Vietnamese pro-lifers become active

HO CHI MINH CITY – Vietnam’s high abortion rate – 74,000 in Ho Chi Minh City alone in 2005 – has led to the development of an indigenous pro-life movement. Local pro-lifers have set up a cemetery where aborted babies are buried, with more than 400 burials from January to March. Also, more than 1,000 pro-lifers attended a pro-life conference earlier this year. However, because the Communist government frowns upon the practice of religion and pro-life activities are considered manifestations of Christian belief, many pro-lifers operate anonymously.

Few adoptable children leads to baby trafficking

ATHENS – The Independent reported on Europe’s baby-trafficking problem, noting that pregnant Bulgarian mothers are being offered 20,000 euros per newborn in Greece. The paper reported that criminal gangs are facilitating the trade, which police say there is a demand for because so few children are being offered for adoption. Last year, more than 500 Greek couples applied to become  parents to one of 53 children offered for adoption.

Study finds poor British teens conceive on purpose

LONDON – A study conducted by the Trust for the Study of Adolescence on behalf of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation claims that many teenage parents in deprived areas plan to conceive their babies, often to make up for their own negative family experiences. The Trust interviewed 51 young mothers and fathers in six different deprived communities. Beverley Huges, the children’s minister, deplored the study, saying of the idea that parenthood was positive for some teens,”we reject that view completely.” Said one British pro-lifer, “Perhaps that’s why the government is pushing abortion and contraception upon our children.”

Opponent of Chinese policy harassed

LINYI – The Citizens Rights Defence Network, an independent Chinese group, has sent an appeal to the Chinese parliament to prevent the imprisonment of a blind rural activist who exposed forced sterilizations and abortions carried out by local authorities in the eastern province of Shandong. Chen Guangcheng’s trial for “destruction of property” and “gathering a crowd to disrupt traffic” is under way after he eluded government officials seeking to silence his criticism of China’s one-child policy. He has charged local authorities with illegal and brutal methods of enforcing the one-child stricture.

Fiji abortionist appeals criminal charges

SUVA – Two months after he was charged, Dr. Sachida Mudaliar is appealing his sentence of three years’ imprisonment for committing an abortion that caused the death of Poonam Kumar, 20, in 2003. Mudaliar’s lawyer argued that the ruling was not fair, as the judge left the country on the eve of his judgement, and the victim’s boyfriend was referred to as an accomplice, although he was not charged. The ruling is pending. More gay couples want kids

NEW YORK – The OpusComm Group and Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications released results from a survey on July 7 stating that two-thirds of lesbians and one-third of homosexual men plan to bring children into their homes within the next three years. This is twice as many as in 2002. Pro-family advocates are extremely concerned with these findings. Louis DeSerres of Preserve Marriage – Protect Children’s Rights warns that children will only be treated more like commodities, as homosexual couples cannot naturally reproduce and must use artificial methods such as surrogate mothers and sperm donors. DeSerres states,”How can such a child claim his equality rights? He is deprived of having a mother or a father without consultation and the tragedy is there is absolutely no remedy for this discrimination.”

Scottish firemen denied freedom of conscience

GLASGOW – Firefighters who refused to participate in the Pride Scotia Parade pro-homosexual event may face disciplinary action. An investigation is still underway into the situation. The 10 men refused to stand at a booth during the June 24 event and hand out leaflets on fire safety. Gay rights groups claimed that the firefighters treated them as second-class citizens, while Scottish National Party MSP Fergus Ewing said that disciplinary action against the men would be “unbelievable.” He added: “Firefighters are entitled to their private views. Since when was handing out leaflets at a gay event considered a firefighter’s core duty?”

Netherland okays pedophile party

AMSTERDAM – Depravity and licentiousness are reaching a new low, as the Brotherly Love Freedom and Diversity Party, a newly formed political party that promotes pedophilia and bestiality, is allowed to stand. Claiming that the freedom to start a political party is the “basis of democratic society,” Judge Hofhuis is allowing the existence of the party, despite a great public outcry. A portion of the party’s platform will include lowering the age of consent from 16 to 12, as well as decriminalizing child pornography and bestiality.

Katrina’s deaths revisited

NEW ORLEANS – Louisiana Attorney-General Charles Foti’s investigation into the alarming number of bodies discovered after the Hurricane Katrina disaster at the Memorial Medical Centre have led to the conviction of a doctor and two nurses for second-degree murder. During the disaster last year, many patients in the hospital were euthanized on the basis of “compassion” and “mercy.” Despite these claims, Foti and his investigation saw through the faux-humanitarian facade to the inexcusable murders which took place, ironically, in that place of healing.

Compensation denied in Italian ‘wrongful birth’ case

ROME – A couple’s attempt to sue their doctor because their child was born with deformations has been turned down in an Italian court. The couple claimed that had they known about the abnormalities, they would have sought an abortion elsewhere. Italian laws only allow for abortions where the life of the mother is at risk, and since this was not the case, the court said the couple had no grounds for their wrongful birth suit. Because of this case, the court ruled on July 18 that fetal protection was for birth itself, and not merely for “healthy birth.”

Psychiatrist critiques pro-homosexual ‘study’

TORONTO – Joseph Berger, of the University of Toronto wrote in a review published by the National Association of Research and Therapy for Homosexuality (NARTH) that  a recent study by researchers at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario is “absolute utter rubbish.” The Brock study claims that male same-sex attraction results from an immune reaction in the mother’s womb, usually from having previous male children. Berger says that their research does not account at all for any experiences after birth. He says the study “should never have been published. I suspect it was not peer-reviewed of was reviewed by someone so biased and ignorant that they were unable to see the huge flaws and [are] essentially ignorant of the literature.”

Canada to probe China’s illegal organ trade

OTTAWA- The Conservative government is taking a serious look into allegations made by Kilgour and Matas with regards to the practice in Chinese prisons and hospitals of illegal organ transplants. Reportedly, many of these procedures are being performed on the suppressed Falun Gong, a religious group who’s beliefs and activities are opposed to those of the communist regime. In his research, Kilgour found over 41,500 cases of non-traceable organ transplants, as well as first-hand reports from those in the “industry.” Despite all of the evidence, the Chinese embassy spokeswoman still dismisses the claims as rumors of the Falun Gong.