News, 11 February 2000

A single drinking binge during the last three months of pregnancy can cause significant damage to an unborn child's brain, according to a team from Humboldt University, Berlin, Tokyo Medical and Dental University and Washington University, Missouri. [Science, quoted in the Daily Telegraph, 11 February, 2000]

The National Right to Life Committee has endorsed Mr George W Bush for the US presidency. It quotes Mr Bush as saying: "Part of ushering in the responsibility era ... is for folks to understand the preciousness of life." The committee claims that Senator John McCain has made conflicting statements on abortion. It is the USA's largest pro-life organisation. [Pro-Life Infonet (request@prolifeinfo.org), 11 February, 2000]

A comatose woman who has been on a life-support machine in Rio de Janeiro for five months has given birth to a healthy baby boy. [Daily Telegraph, 11 February, 2000]

The Guardian newspaper has corrected its previous wrong assertion that Levonelle 2, the new morning-after pill, had no side-effects or medical contra-indications. [11 February, 2000]

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To subscribe to SPUC's email information services, please visit www.spuc.org.uk/em-signup. The reliability of the news herein is dependent on that of the cited sources, which are paraphrased rather than quoted. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the society. © Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, 2000