The Catholic diocese of Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands has said it will not perform burial services for those presently considering euthanasia ... Belgian Free University will teach medical students to perform euthanasia once country's parliament passes euthanasia law, which is expected later this year ... Taiwan Department of Health bans all forms of human cloning ... British government report finds that bad maternity care is causing 200 infant deaths annually ... British study finds 11 per cent of abortifacient morning-after pill prescriptions are given to girls under 16 ... Australian cabinet rejects parliamentary committee recommendation that embryos created through in-vitro fertilization be used for research ... Dr. Bernard Nathanson urged the people of the Philippines not to legalize abortion, warning Manila audience not to accept abortionist tactics of distorting facts and magnifying data, especially in light of recent claims of burgeoning number of illegal abortions in country ... A committee of 58 medical, legal and religious experts has recommended the legalization of passive euthanasia in Israel. Among proposals to Israeli Health Minister Nissim Dahan are support for respirators with timers which turn themselves off and a database in which individuals could record their preferences for end-of-life care.

Tracey Allsopp, manager of a Birmingham, England abortuary, the Calthorpe Clinic, admits "there are potential health risks with any abortion operation." ... New Zealand's Abortion Supervisory Council reports that 16,103 women had abortions in 2000 ... Police in China's Anhui province find six dead fetuses and two dead newborns in a drain ... Two hundred doctors at conference at Rome's University of La Sapienza pen manifesto "The Embryo as Patient." The document describes the human embryo as "a totally human individual" and promised "to foster interdisciplinary research so that the embryo will be known and welcomed in its inviolable dignity." Professor Domenico Arduini, gynecologist of the public University of Tor Vergata, noted, "It is interesting to note that, in treating the embryo as a patient, the woman also receives considerable benefits."

Alabama Supreme Court Justice Roy Moore in same-sex child custody decision: "Common law designates homosexuality as an inherent evil, and if a person openly engages in such a practice, that fact alone would render him or her an unfit parent" ... University of Michigan offers course entitled "How to be Gay: Male Homosexuality and Initiation." ... Edmonton Sun reports University of Alberta student Kelly Shinkaruk is using pictures of herself nude on campaign posters in effort to become vice president, Student Life. Shinkaruk claims campaign is designed to wake fellow students from their electoral apathy, not gain votes.

Los Angeles Times poll finds majority of California Republican's oppose possible GOP gubernatorial candidate Richard Riordan's suggestion that party dump its pro-life position, by 52 per cent to 40 per cent. Yorba Linda funeral director Thad Luyben castigates Riordan's vacillation on issue: "Either you're pro-choice or pro-life. There's nothing in between." Pro-life Republican Bill Simon beats Riordan in primary and will face pro-abortion Governor Gary Davis in November. ... Catholic Civil Rights League president Thomas Langan on the impoverishment of political discourse when people of faith are excluded: "Do we not recognize the influence of strictly secular, or perhaps more accurately, atheist views that have led to the removal of prayer from public schools, the removal of God from Parliament Hill prayer services, and an unfettered abortion regime, which leads to the destruction of one in four unborn babies in Canada, which people of faith are required to finance?" ... Edmonton Journal columnist Lorne Gunter on benefit of defunding CBC: "If the nearly $1 billion Ottawa gives the CBC were eliminated, you and I could enjoy a one-penny break on every dollar we pay in taxes. I would rather have my one cent's worth than help the CBC to put in its two cents."