Canada
Jodie Emery, an advocate of the legalization of marijuana and wife of Marc Emery, who is serving a U.S. sentence for distributing marijuana through the mail, confirmed she has been approached by the Liberal Party of Canada to be their candidate in Vancouver East to face NDP MP Libby Davies. Emery said her candidacy “would basically be to say, ‘the Liberals support legalization’” … Despite the late finance minister Jim Flaherty casting doubt on income splitting in February, federal cabinet minister Jason Kenney said the Conservatives will not abandon its campaign promise to provide tax fairness to families where one spouse stays home or earns substantially less. “We confirm that it is absolutely our intention to keep that commitment” as a matter of “tax fairness,” he stated in the House of Commons while debating an NDP motion on doing away with the idea … Alberta Progressive Conservative MLA Ric McIver, a candidate for the party’s leadership, is being criticized for taking part in Calgary’s March for Jesus, an event sponsored by Calgary Street Church to counter the city’s annual gay pride march. Sun News contributor Lorne Gunter predicts McIver will be “punted from the Tory caucus” after the leadership race.
United States
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (Republican) signed two pro-life bills, the first, the Unsafe Abortion Protection Act, requires abortionists to have active admitting privileges at a hospital that is not more than 30 miles from where the abortion is carried out. The second, HB 305, prevents individuals or organizations who do abortions from providing “instruction or materials in public elementary and secondary schools or in charter schools that receive state funding.” Jindal said: “I am proud to sign these bills because they will help us continue to protect women and the life of the unborn in our state.” The National Abortion Rights Action League claims that the bills “(corner) women into using dangerous back alley procedures, unlicensed practitioners and the black market drugs already seen peddled on the streets of New Orleans” … Florida Governor Rick Scott (Republican) signed Bill HB 1047 into law, which “will require women to have a doctor determine whether a fetus is viable before having an abortion.” It also removes an exception for “psychological trouble” for abortions committed after 24 weeks. The law adds to the existing ban on abortion after 24 weeks’ gestation although exceptions are still made if the pregnancy threatens a mother’s life or “major bodily function.” Former Democrat state senator Nan Rich, who will run for governor in the fall, said the new law “places even more restrictions on women’s access to reproductive choice. Every time we let our guard down on protecting women, extremists go after our rights in Tallahassee” … Hillary Clinton, who is expected to run for the Democratic presidential nominations in 2016 and former secretary of state, made disparaging comments about supporters of traditional marriage in a recent NPR interview. “(Too) many people believe they have a direct line to the divine and they never want to change their mind about anything.” Traditional marriage backers are “never open to new information and they like to operate in an evidence-free zone. I think it’s good if people continue to change” … Charles Rossman, an abortionist in Georgia, has been charged with “criminal abortion” and sentenced to five years in prison, with another five years on probation. In 2003, Rossman dispensed abortion pills to a woman over 30 weeks pregnant before leaving her to go through labor alone in a locked office. Rossman became a fugitive, traveling over two continents in 11 years to avoid arrest before being caught in Germany and returned to Georgia in January 2014. “Another Gosnell-like abortionist has been convicted of crimes and is behind bars. This is a victory for justice,” said Troy Newman of Operation Rescue.
International
The United Nations held the Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in mid-June where more than 150 countries endorsed their Declaration of Commitment to End Sexual Violence in Conflict launched by the United Kingdom in 2012. Despite efforts by some feminist NGOs, according to the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute the protocol “does not recommend abortion as part of a comprehensive legal response to sexual violence.” Instead, it “condemns forced sterilizations and abortions as crimes against humanity” … Thirteen out of 34 countries attending the Organization of American States General Assembly in Paraguay refused to endorse a proposition proposed by Brazilian delegates that would support same-sex civil unions. Guatemala, Ecuador, San Vicente & Granadinas, Jamaica, Santa Lucia, and Trinidad & Tobago are some of the nations who opposed the measure. Sonia Vera, president of Human Life International affiliate Life and Health Foundation in Bolivia called the number of countries that supported male-female unions, as well as the existence of a workshop to discuss the issue, “historic.”