Canada
The Alberta Progressive Conservatives will have their leadership election during two rounds of voting on Sept. 6 and, if no one wins a majority, Sept. 20. Former MP Jim Prentice, who is socially liberal, leads in the polls. Former provincial cabinet ministers Thomas Lukaszuk and Ric McIver are also running. McIver has a pro-family history as city councillor and MLA but has not indicated being pro-life; there is not enough information to rate Lukaszuk … The Ontario Progressive Conservatives will hold their leadership contest between April 1 and May 31, 2015 although the exact date has yet to be decided. The only declared leadership contender is MPP Christine Elliott, who supports abortion, same-sex “marriage” and the Ontario Human Rights Commission.
United States
The University of Chicago’s “abguide” (“Abortion Guide”) advises abortion workers not to refer to individuals seeking abortions as women because they may not self-identify as that gender … In a recent interview with the American Liberty Association, Republican Senator Rand Paul (Kentucky) made some strong pro-life remarks. “The interesting thing is when you’re in the neonatal nursery and you’ve got a one-pound baby, everybody acknowledges that that baby has rights, the Bill of Rights applies to that baby and nobody can hurt that baby … It’s a one-pound baby. But a week before, even a full-term seven-pound baby has no rights, according to the way people are looking at it, and I think that is a big mistake…I think, and I often say in my speeches, that I don’t think a civilization can long endure that doesn’t respect the rights of the unborn.” Paul will likely run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 … Mireille Miller-Young, associate professor of feminist studies at the University of California’s Santa Barbara campus, was found guilty of grand theft from a person, battery and vandalism. On March 4 of this year, the professor confronted sisters Thrin and Joan Short when they were taking part in a demonstration led by Survivors of the Abortion Holocaust. Miller-Young reportedly physically assaulted one young activist after taking the other’s sign, which she later destroyed. The professor, whose supporters attribute her actions to “the cultural legacy of slavery” and being three months pregnant at the time of the incident, has been sentenced to three years’ probation, 108 hours of community service, and 10 hours of anger-management classes … Cristina Richie of Boston College’s Department of Theology has denounced assisted reproduction technologies on environmental grounds. Writing in the Journal of Medical Ethics she said: “A carbon footprint is the aggregate of resource use and carbon emissions over a person’s life. A carbon legacy occurs when a person chooses to procreate. All people have carbon footprints; only people with biological children have carbon legacies…Through the use of ARTs multiple children are born, adding to worldwide carbon emissions. This is a burden on the already over-taxed ecosystem to support new beings who might not have existed without medical intervention.” Bioethicist Wesley J. Smith responded in a blog post, saying, “in the face of such human objectification, sorry, I can’t get upset about global warming.”
International
British atheist Richard Dawkins tweeted that “the decision to deliberately give birth to a Down baby (might) actually be immoral from the point of view of the child’s own welfare.” He suggested that his view was mainstream by noting that about 90 per cent of preborn babies diagnosed with Down syndrome in utero are killed by abortion … The Daily Mail reports that British nurses making home visits to elderly patients are presenting them with forms asking about “do not resuscitate” orders, even though they have never met the patient prior to the initial visit. It is part of a National Health Service effort “to improve care of the elderly and keep them out of hospital,” according to the Daily Mail. Health policy analyst Roy Lilley, whose mother was invited to fill out the form by a nurse, stated, “elderly, frail but otherwise healthy people are being asked, by complete strangers, to sign a form agreeing they shouldn’t be resuscitated. It is outrageous. People will be frightened to death thinking the district nurses know something they don’t and will feel obliged to sign the form so as not to be thought a nuisance” … Belgian doctor Wim Distelmans, known as “Dr. Death,” is fundraising to train medical professionals to practice at the Leif euthanasia clinic, which he operates. Distelmans, president of the Belgium Euthanasia Control and Evaluation Commission, is known for euthanizing Belgian twin brothers who feared becoming blind, as well as offering “inspiring” tours of Auschwitz … Exit International, the Australian euthanasia advocacy organization, was shut down when police raided the Adelaide premises and took all mobile phones and computers. Exit founder Philip Nitschke is being charged with carrying out an assisted suicide, after the death of senate candidate Max Bromson.