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September 2001
World BriefsLarge demand for MAPsSupport for ethical stem cell research Suicide pill divides euthanasia advocates Women pray for their aborted babies Couple reap award for aborted boy Large demand for MAPsDUBLIN, Ireland - According to the Irish Family Planning Association, 90 per cent of the country's doctors are prescribing the morning-after pill. The MAP was allowed in the early 1990s despite Ireland's ban on abortions, as elected officials accepted the lies of pro-abortionists who said the pill doesn't cause an abortion. However, the Irish Medicines Board recently deemed a new MAP, Levonelle-2, an abortifacient and prohibited its use. The FPA is threatening to appeal the decision.Support for ethical stem cell researchBERLIN, Germany - Bernd Wegener, president of the German Pharmaceutical Industry Association, said destructive embryonic stem cell research is not necessary to develop new medications. He told the Aceprensa news bulletin that "in the debate on experimentation (entailing) the destruction of embryos, many unverified theses are being propounded. However, up until now, it has not been demonstrated at all, not even as a starting point, that at least in the next 10 years, it will be possible to develop a medication resulting from experimentation with embryonic stem cells." He urged supporting the ethically unproblematic and medically more promising use of adult stem cells in research.Suicide pill divides euthanasia advocatesBROKEN HILL, Australia - Pro-euthanasia activists are not supporting a plan by Philip Nitschke, "Australia's Jack Kevorkian," to develop a suicide pill. They believe his illegal proposal would sidestep the law by providing instructions on how to create a lethal concoction from readily available household products. The state-based Voluntary Euthanasia Society said such a blatant transgression of the law could erode support for enacting legislation at the state level to liberalize euthanasia laws, and Rodney Syme of the Victoria chapter said Nitschke's plan had "a large element of irresponsibility about it." However, the U.S.-based Hemlock Society has given Nitschke $58,000 to develop the pill.Women pray for their aborted babiesSEOUL, South Korea - About 100 women gathered at the Koodamsa temple to pray for their aborted babies and "cleanse themselves of the guilt they feel at taking a life," the Venerable Ji Yul told the Strait Times. As part of the naktae chondoje ritual, an offering ceremony for aborted babies, women offered fruits and milk to appease the "restless spirits." Ji Yul said an increasing number of temples offer the ritual to help women with their suffering and "to teach children about the dangers of abortion." A recent study found roughly 40 per cent of married women in South Korea have had at least one abortion and that there are more than one million abortions annually, despite the fact that abortion is technically prohibited. The 1973 Maternal and Child Health Law allows abortions under special circumstances, including pregnancies that threaten the health of the mother, or in cases of incest or rape.Couple reap award for aborted boyVADODARA, India - An Indian couple were awarded compensation after they discovered that the baby they had aborted was male and not female. This was despite the fact they clearly violated the Pre-Diagnostic Techniques Regulation Act of 1996, which prohibits sex-determination tests prior to abortions. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is looking at the possibility pursuing legal action against the couple and the doctors for doing the sex-determination test for the "obvious purpose of aborting the girl child." |
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