Canada
Artur Pawlowski, leader of the non-denominational Street Church in Calgary, said MLA and former Alberta cabinet minister Ric McIver “is still the best choice of Albertans” in the provincial Progressive Conservative leadership race. McIver was condemned for participating in the March for Jesus organized by the Street Church because the church criticizes homosexuality. Pawlowski said McIver’s rivals are not pro-family. Of fellow Polish Canadian Thomas Lakaszuk, Pawlowski said they “both speak Polish, but we speak different languages when it comes to traditional Alberta values.” Finally, Pawlowski condemned front-runner Jim Prentice for being “a supporter of an anti-marriage, anti-family, anti-religious and pro-abortion political agenda, and he is bringing that agenda to this race.” … Activist Heather Millman presented a petition to Guelph city council committee July 7 to ban all pro-life advertising on city buses after it gathered a total of 3, 320 signatures. Mayor Karen Farbridge said that the pro-life advertisements comply with the Canadian Code of Advertising Standards and Guelph’s Transit advertising policy. Though the ads appear safe, Jakki Jeffs, president of Guelph and Area Right to Life, believes that the discounted rate for ads from non-profit organizations such as theirs will eventually be abolished, significantly reducing their campaign capacities on public transit.
United States
U.S. Senate Democrats sought to advance bill S.2578, “Protect Women’s Health From Corporate Interference Act,” which would mandate coverage of the abortion pill RU-486, surgical abortion (including late term abortions), or anything else classified as “preventive services,” overriding all existing federal laws that protect religious freedom and conscience rights, including the Hyde-Weldon Amendment. The bill, sponsored by Senator Patty Murray (Washington), failed to receive the 60 votes needed for the Senate to take up the bill. … President and CEO of Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains, Vicki Cowart, awarded an affiliate office in Aurora, Colorado, a certificate for “exceeding abortion visits first half of fiscal year 2012 compared to first half of fiscal year 2013.” Cowart said, “we absolutely do celebrate our progress in ensuring that more people have access to the full range of reproductive health care, including abortion. And we always will” … In New York City, abortion facility Early Options uses the tagline “Early Abortion & Miscarriage: a Revolutionary Medical Practice.” It introduced the method Soft Touch, in which the abortionist “inserts a soft flexible tube through the natural opening of your cervix, and applies gentle pressure. This quietly releases your late period and induces a miscarriage.” They also explain, “ending early pregnancy doesn’t need to be any more complicated than getting your yearly pap test. You have an early pregnancy if you have only missed one or two periods. At this stage, it’s more like having a miscarriage. It’s comforting to know that you’re ending the pregnancy before you would even know if it may be viable. An early pregnancy consists of tissue similar to your menstrual tissue and a ‘bubble’ of fluid, called the gestational sac. The pregnancy itself is invisible.”
International
Polish doctor Bogdan Chazan, was dismissed as head of the gynecology and obstetrics department at Holy Family Hospital in Warsaw, and he and the hospital were fined, after he refused to carry out a eugenic abortion after 24 weeks on a 38-year-old woman. Polish law allows abortion in cases of genetic defects until viability … The United Kingdom Minister in charge of Care for the Elderly, Normal Lamb, now supports administering lethal drugs to terminally ill patients with less than six months to live. “I have in the past been very opposed,” Lamb said. “I was concerned about the risk of families exploiting vulnerable relatives. But ultimately the question is whether concerns about some people seeking to exploit the situation should deny others the right to make an informed choice. I don’t think it can.” Former Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord George Carey also reversed years of opposition to say he supports euthanasia. A letter written on July 15 by a group of interfaith leaders said the move would be a “grave error” and result in the idea that someone seeking an assisted death is of “no further value” … The British Medical Journal called for House of Lords to pass the Assisted Dying Bill which would legalize euthanasia while the British Medical Association firmly reiterated their opposition to legalizing assisted suicide. Following the different views within the medical profession on the euthanasia-debate, Dr. Mark Porter, BMA council chair stated, the BMJ’s “position on assisted dying is an editorial decision and does not reflect the views of the BMA or the medical profession” … The Medical Board of Australia suspended the medical registration of euthanasia activist Philip Nitschke saying he posed “a serious risk to persons” that it was necessary to take action to protect the health and safety of the public.