Canada

Former Ontario attorney-general and chief justice Roy McMurtry has been made an officer of the Order of Canada, the second highest rank in the order. In 2003, under McMurtry’s leadership, the Ontario Court of Appeals ruled the traditional definition of marriage violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom’s guarantee of equality under the law, thereby establishing same-sex “marriage” … In June, the parliamentary sub-committee for international human rights, chaired by MP Russ Hiebert (C, South Surrey-White Rock-Cloverdale) held hearings on the Canadian Human Rights Commission, examining how the commission lacked due process and an ethics code for CHRC employees, as well as how it fails to adhere to rules of evidence … More than 35 Albertans have filed human rights complaints against the provincial Health Department for reducing funding for sex reassignment surgeries, which can cost up to $80,000. The Canadian Press reported that the complaints are under review and that some will proceed, but probably not all of them … According to an affidavit in the case against Winston Blackmore, the RCMP allege the B.C. polygamist has nine teenage brides, 14 other wives and 101 children … Sun Media reports that Ottawa physician Ron Weiss says that “with the terrible economic situation … the number of vasectomies has been increasing.” In Canada, 55,000 are performed every year.

United States

The Wall Street Journal reported that gay activists are displeased with President Barack Obama’s lack of attention to their issues. While Obama has promised to extend certain benefits to same-sex partners of federal workers and vowed to lift rules that prohibit foreigners with HIV to travel to the U.S., he has not pressed Congress to rescind the Defence of Marriage Act, nor has he overturned the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which prohibits openly gay men and women from serving in the armed forces … In his visit with Pope Benedict XVI, Obama said he would seek to reduce the number of abortions in America … Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, which mobilizes pro-life women in politics, said Obama’s apparent moderate position on abortion is a sham. She wrote in the Weekly Standard: “After making a few polite noises about finding ‘common ground’ with pro-lifers, his administration has shown zero interest in doing so. Instead, the Obama agenda is to weave government-backed abortion into the fabric of American life” … The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a brief entitled, “Changing patterns of non-marital childbearing in the United States,” which reported that 39.7 per cent of all births were to unmarried women, up from 34 per cent in 2002, an increase of 21 per cent. In Canada, 30 per cent of births are to unmarried women, while in Iceland it is 60 per cent and in Sweden 55 per cent … Former president Jimmy Carter has renounced his membership in the Southern Baptist Convention because he disapproves of its “rigid creed,” although he will remain a deacon at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga., where he teaches Sunday school … The Episcopal Church in the U.S. voted 99-45 at its general convention to end the moratorium on the ordination of homosexual bishops.

International

Department of Health statistics for England and Wales reveal that between 2005 and 2008, more than 450 teenagers below the age of 14 had abortions and that 52 teenagers had procured at least four abortions before their 18th birthdays. In total, there were 64,715 repeat abortions across all age groups, including 46 women who had at least eight abortions … A leaflet produced by the National Health Services office in Sheffield, England advises students to have sex to improve their health. The leaflet has the slogan “An orgasm a day keeps the doctor away” and suggests that regular sex is good for students’ cardiovascular health …Tom McGregor of Dallasblog.com reports that despite abortion being ostensibly illegal in Nigeria, the Planned Parenthood Federation of Nigeria website has a section on the medical services it provides entitled, “Pre- & Post-Abortion Counselling and Care” … Algerian music sensation Cheb Mami was sentenced to five years imprisonment in France for attempting to force an abortion on an unnamed woman pregnant with his child. He could be out in two years … Researchers at the Northeast England Stem Cell Institute have successfully coaxed sperm cells from embryonic stem cells to impregnate mice. If the procedure is ever successful in human beings, it could result in women having babies without any contribution from a man. It raises the possibility of not only two lesbians being biological parents, but a woman being the mother and father of her own child. Professor Kraim Nayernia said that the sperm were imperfect, but had the essential qualities for creating life. According to the journal Stem Cells and Development, all the mice created by the researchers died after birth.