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Assorted links (11/03)
Abby Johnson was director of the Byran, Texas Planned Parenthood facility until "realized she wanted to leave, after watching an ultrasound of an abortion procedure." Now she supports Coalition for Life. KWTX, the Waco CBS affiliate, has the story. At The Corner, Maggie Gallagher argues that gay marriage is different politically speaking than other socially conservative issues. Same-sex marriage is on the ballot in Maine and Washington state. Wesley Smith has a longish post at Secondhand Smoke: "Killing for Organs: ... (Continue reading)
Abortion and mental health
The Daily Telegraph reports that New Zealand researchers have found that women who had an abortion suffered mental illness and depression in "proportion to the degree of distress" associated with their abortion. That doesn't sound significant but as David Fergusson, of the department of Psychological Medicine at the University of Otago, says: “Collectively, this evidence raises important questions about the practice of justifying termination of pregnancy on the grounds that this procedure will reduce risks of mental health problems in ... (Continue reading)
Conservative MP promotes defunding of International Planned Parenthood
Kudos to Conservative MP Brad Trost (Saskatoon-Humboldt) for promoting a petition urging the federal government to stop funding International Planned Parenthood Federation. LifeSiteNews.com reports: The goal, says Trost, is to stop the IPPF funding when it comes up for renewal, which he says is supposed to happen around December 31st. He has circulated a similar petition "on a low-key level" by word-of-mouth since the March for Life in May, but has redrafted it and posted it to his website. He ... (Continue reading)
Some thoughts on Steven Fletcher’s euthanasia column
Here are a few rambling thoughts about what Conservative MP Steven Fletcher wrote today in the National Post regarding euthanasia and doctor-assisted suicide. It is a serious article, one that no doubt will move some people on this issue. But it also begs some serious questions and concerns. Fletcher, a paraplegic confined to a wheelchair since a 1996 automobile accident, says that he would like to see more done to provide those who face terminal illness and/or lifelong disability, as well as the social ... (Continue reading)
The personhood movement
WorldNetDaily has a storyon the personhood movement, which is currently leading efforts in 32 states to define the unborn child as a legal person. Personhood USA says that defining the unborn child as a legal person will directly challenge Roe v. Wade. Pro-lifers can reasonably disagree whether these initiatives are the best way to advance the pro-life cause -- Judie Brown of American Life League is for them, Clarke Forsythe of Americans United for Life is ... (Continue reading)
Assorted links (11/02)
Conservative MP Steven Fletcher, a paraplegic, has an op-ed in the National Postin which he explains that he supports the idea of euthanasia but that he is voting against Francine Lalonde's private members euthanasia bill (C-384). The Ottawa Citizen has a story about Fletcher not supporting C-384. Writing in the Marco Island Eagle, Eugene R. Milhizer, acting president of Ave Maria Law School, responds to the announcement that the Naples, Florida Planned Parenthood clinic was resuming doing abortions, ... (Continue reading)
Hentoff hates hate crime law
Nat Hentoff, a pro-life left-libertarian, has an excellent letter-to-the-editor in the Washington Posttoday on why hate crime laws are wrong. Earlier this week, the paper editorialized in favour of Barack Obama signing a hate crime bill into law saying it expanding civil rights. As Hentoff notes, it actually creates two classes of victims and is obviously unconstitutional by putting convicted criminals in double jeopardy. (Continue reading)
Mad Men and the memory of days gone by
Harry Stein writes about the popular television series Mad Men in City Journal. Stein notes how things have changed since the 1950s setting of the series: Start with family life. Back then, under 8 percent of American children were born out of wedlock annually. Today, that figure is close to 40 percent overall and fully 70 percent in the black community—which, for all the other hardships it faced 50 years ago, saw only 20 percent of black kids born to a ... (Continue reading)
CHRCs: we’re making progress
As Ezra Levant notes the Canadian Jewish News ran an article about him and his crusade against the whole human rights commission industry. As Levant notes, "I just don't think that would have happened two years ago." I don't think it would have happened two years ago, either, and it wouldn't have happened today were it not for Levant's selfless and costly battle against the kangaroo courts. For more about Levant's central role in placing the HRCs within mainstream political discourse ... (Continue reading)
Assorted links (10/30)
The Economist cover feature this week is on demography, growth and the environment with a focus on falling fertility: "Falling Fertility," "The rich are different," and "Go forth and multiply a lot less." Interim editor Paul Tuns will be commenting on these stories later today. The Daily Mail reports that neither men nor women will be necessary for reproduction as scientists at Stanford create eggs and sperm from stem cells. At his Guardian blog, Henry Porter registers his outrage that Watford, England parents ... (Continue reading)
Stupak doesn’t clarify
Writing in The Hill, Rep. Bart Stupak (D, Mich.) says he is not opposed to health care reform even though he is vigorously fighting to ensure that there will be no public funding of abortion. But this leaves the door open to Stupak and perhaps his pro-life colleagues in the Democratic Party supporting the eventual reform bill even if it does permit direct or indirect public funding of abortion: I have not made unreasonable demands. I have simply asked that ... (Continue reading)
Biased Canadian commission to examine euthanasia
The Royal Society of Canada has appointed a new international commission to examine "End-of-life decision making" in Canada. As Wesley Smith notes, at least four of the six members are actively supportive of euthanasia and/or doctor-assisted suicide: Udo Schuklenk, a pro-euthanasia philosophy professor from Queen's University and Ontario Research Chair in Bioethics; Johannes van Delden, a euthanasia researcher from the Medical Council of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences; Jocelyn Downie, Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy ... (Continue reading)
Eliminating people with Down’s Syndrome
This is essentially a how-to search and destroy manual in The Guardian, and it bothers me greatly: It's recommended that all women in England and Wales are offered a combination of tests to screen for Down's syndrome. The tests should be offered early in pregnancy, between week 11 and the end of week 13, although a slightly different set of tests can be done later on if necessary. You should be offered a nuchal translucency ultrasound scan, which looks for fluid under ... (Continue reading)
Assorted links (10/29)
The Guardian reports "'Death tourism' leads Swiss to consider ban on assisted suicide." The Parents Television Council has issued a report that finds that violence against women on TV has increased 120 percent between 2004 and 2009. A study published in the Journal of Happiness Studies suggests children lead to marital bliss. ScienceDaily.com has the story. The New York Times reports that the Philippine Congress is considering legislation, the Reproductive Health and Population Development Act, that would require ... (Continue reading)
Obamacare and abortion: Standing up for life. Maybe.
CNSNews.com reported on Tuesday that House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer reached out with an unsatisfactory compromise to pro-life Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) over the latter's insistence that the House vote on his amendment to explicitly prohibit any federal money from paying for abortions, directly or indirectly. LifeSiteNews.com has a story and videothat raises doubts about whether Stupak will actually vote against health care reform that does not include an ironclad guarantee that taxpayers will not subsidize abortion. According to a Rasmussen ... (Continue reading)
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