India ponders anti-child policies

NEW DELHI – India’s National Commission on Population may override the country’s current population policy that’s been in place for two years. The commission’s recommendations include enforced sterilization and limiting families to having just two children. More than 15 million babies are born annually in India. Population growth for developed states in India are 2.1 children per couple, but is almost doubled for in more populous states. “The nation cannot wait for the public to be educated and reduce the size of their families themselves,” NCP secretary Krishna Singh said ominously.

Australia considers compromise reprotech bill

CANBERRA – A new proposed federal law in Australia would see that anyone who sold human sperm, human eggs or embryos jailed for up to 10 years and be fined $66,000. The same would go for researchers if they manipulated human cells in an attempt to change the child’s physical characteristics, including eye color, or internal characteristics. All research on so-called “spare” IVF embryos would have to be recorded on a public database and the number of embryos used would be included. The law would also prevent scientists from mixing the genetic material of humans and animals. Those who made clones would be jailed for 15 years and fined $99,000.

Contraception in wide use globally

UNITED NATIONS – New statistics released by United Nations states about two-thirds of married or in-union couples are now using contraception. Out of 1 billion women of reproductive age, 62 per cent are using contraception. Contraception use in lowest in Africa where 25 per cent of women of reproductive age use contraception, while in Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean it is between 66 and 69 per cent. Moreover in the developed world 70 per cent or 170 million married or in-union women use contraception.

Italian bill respecting life

ROME Italy’s centre-right coalition government, which includes the Christian Democrats, introduced a new bill on assisted reproduction which bans all experimentation on human embryos and includes a prohibition on the testing and freezing embryos. The proposed legislation also limits the number of embryos created for IVF treatments to three so as afford a chance at life by being implanted in the uterus of the woman. Selective abortion in the case of multiple pregnancies created through IVF are forbidden. The bill also denies funding of IVF.

Motion to examine medical necessity of abortion

OTTAWA-Garry Breitkreuz (Yorkton-Melville) has introduced a private members’ motion, M-523, that will be debated on or after July1, which will direct the Standing Committee on Health to “fully examine, study and report to Parliament on: (a) whether or not abortions are medically necessary for the purpose of maintaining health, preventing disease or diagnosing or treating an injury, illness or disability; and (b) the health risks for women undergoing abortions compared to women carrying their babies to full term.” Breitkreuz has twice been told by Health Canada that it has no evidence that abortion is medically necessary.