 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
August 2001
WORLD BRIEFSColumbia allows abortionIreland complicit in anti-life agenda Cardinal Winning RIP German court oks same-sex rights Spain's shrinking population Columbia allows abortionBOGOTA, COLUMBIA. - On June 20, the Columbian Supreme Court ruled that abortion "in those cases where the woman has been a victim of violence, rape or non-consensual artificial insemination" is not punishable by prison. Columbia's Catholic Bishops criticized the ruling, saying "any judicial decision that decriminalizes abortion, even if only partially," is wrong. The Bishops, recognizing what the Court did not, said the circumstances of conception do not change the fact that innocent human life is inviolable. Critics see the limited circumstances allowed by the courts as the wedge which will legalize widespread abortion. In most countries abortion laws have been liberalized beginning with the rare cases of rape and incest but before long there are few limits on abortion. In 1999, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women demanded that Colombia legalize abortion.Ireland complicit in ant-life agendaDUBLIN, IRELAND - The Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute has reported the Irish government's complicity with the European Union in endorsing the document International Guidelines on HIV/AIDS and Human Rights, intended for passage at the United Nations Conference on HIV/AIDS. Included in the document were provisions contrary to Irish law including a call for worldwide recognition of same-sex marriage, the legalization of prostitution and legal abortion. The incident is causing confusion among Irish Catholics, the government and international observers. The government maintains that it can maintain an independent domestic agenda while at the same time honour its EU obligations. Critics say that becomes unlikely as the radical language of UN documents influences international law which will in turn be cited by EU courts to make decisions which become binding on its members. The Irish Catholic said "Given a few years, this will be how some European court quashes our constitutional commitment to life."Cardinal Winning RIPGLASGOW, SCOTLAND - Scotland's heroically pro-life Cardinal Thomas Winning died on June 17 from a heart attack. Earlier this year, Cardinal Winning was vocal in his criticism of a government plan to sell abortifacient morning-after pill without a doctors prescription saying it promoted "early chemically-induced abortion" and would lead to more incidents of sexually transmitted disease. Last year during the British debate on new reproductive technologies, he said embryonic stem-cell research is wrong because "it involves the destruction of a human life. Human life is inviolably sacred, both before and after any arbitrary 14-day deadline." He also criticized the medical profession which had allowed itself to become "deeply corrupted by the culture of death."German court oks same-sex rightsKARLSRUHE, GERMANY. - On July 18, Germany's highest court dismissed an appeal by the states of Bavaria and Saxony of a federal law allowing homosexual marriage. As of August 1, German same-sex partners would be granted extensive rights similar to marriage by wedding in registry offices, sharing a common surname, and benefiting from inheritance and immigration privileges normally reserved for married couples. The court will decide in a separate case next year whether or not the law contravenes the German constitution. Germany joins Denmark, France, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway and in giving legal status to counterfeit marriages. Belgium is also considering registering same-sex relationships.Spain's shrinking populationMADRID, SPAIN - According the July 17 National Post, Spain's birthrate of 1.2, well below replacement, is the lowest in the world and threatens the country's social-welfare system. Juan Antonio Fernandez, a demographer at Spain's Superior Council for Scientific Research says that with fewer babies being born each year and a rapidly growing retiree population, the nation faces a financial crisis. Experts agree that a country generally requires four people in the workforce for every retiree drawing pension benefits. To sustain their commitments to pensioners, Fernandez says that the population will have to quadruple by 2050. He said he doubted Spanish women could be convinced to have more children and said only increased immigration-"about 10 times more each year than we are currently receiving"-would stem the financial crisis the country faces from depopulation. |
|||
|
