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Mar 2004
World Briefs
Italy passes restrictive IVF law
State moves marriage battle forward
UN badgers Ethiopia on abortion
U.S. castigates UNESCO abortion promotion
Doctor defends infanticide
Italy passes restrictive IVF law
ROME - Legislation restricting in-vitro fertilization was passed in Italy after almost two years of winding its way through the country's legislature. The new law has pleased pro-life opponents of artificial pro-creation with its restrictions, which will prohibit pre-implantation eugenic screening of embryos, and the freezing, cloning of or experimentation on human embryos. Pro-lifers in the country recognize that while it does not ban the procedure, it limits the harm by restricting the practice which, up to now, has remained completely unregulated in Italy, and that it appears that the law will effectively restrict many morally offensive practices. There are fines and jail terms of 10-20 years for doctors who try clone human beings.
State moves marriage battle forward
BOSTON - The battle over same-sex "marriage" raged in the Massachusetts state legislature, as lawmakers narrowly defeated two constitutional amendments defining marriage as between a man and a woman, but which included a compromise measure that would have codified homosexual civil unions in the state. Legislators then tried to shirk their duty by promoting the idea of a state-wide referendum on the issue. Concerned Women for America chief counsel Jan LaRue praised the legislature for rejecting the compromise measure: "We are very pleased the legislators refused to legitimize faux marriage by putting it into the state's constitution." Thus far, 38 states have banned recognition of homosexual "marriage," although five states (California, Hawaii, Massachusetts, New Jersey and D.C.) allow domestic partnership status. Vermont is the only state that recognizes homosexual civil unions.
UN badgers Ethiopia on abortion
NEW YORK - The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women is urging Ethiopia to decriminalize abortion and to publicly fund contraceptives. Despite the stated UN policy not to promote abortion in countries where it is illegal, CEDAW member Sjamsiah Achmad, from Indonesia, asked the Ethiopian representatives, "Would (the government) consider reviewing the punitive measures contained in the penal code against women who had undergone abortions?" She claimed, "Something along those lines had been recommended in the Beijing Platform for Action." Another committee member, Bangladesh's Salma Khan, expressed concern about the low rates of contraceptive use in the country. "That raised certain questions about the availability of family planning services for women and adolescents."
U.S. castigates UNESCO abortion promotion
WASHINGTON - Tommy Thompson, the U.S. secretary of health and human services, wrote to the director-general of UNESCO, voicing concern over two UNESCO documents entitled, "Unwanted Pregnancy and Unsafe Abortion" and "Review of International Standards for Rights of the Child and Adolescent Rights." Thompson said they reflect "pro-abortion advocacy, rather than science and evidence-based strategies for improving reproductive health" and urged a reassessment of recommendations that governments legalize abortion.
Doctor defends infanticide
LONDON - Professor John Harris, a member of the British Medical Association's ethics committee, said during a debate on sex-selection that, "I don't think infanticide is always unjustifiable. I don't think it is plausible to think that there is any moral change that occurs during the journey down the birth canal." He also said that infanticide is accepted in most countries and that it was for families to decide the fate of their child, noting in particular that babies born with disabilities are often not given proper medical care and left to die. But as pro-lifers have noted, there is an admirably honest consistency at the root of his statement: there is no moral difference between the pre-born and just born. However, instead of taking the logically moral position of granting the unborn the right to life, Harris now seeks to deny it to the born.
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