News, 24 May 2000
The communications director of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service
[the UK's largest abortion provider] has strongly supported moves to
make progestogen morning-after pills available over the counter without
prescription. Ann Furedi argued that the pills are safer than aspirin
or paracetamol and wondered why the manufacturers had applied for
prescription-only status in the first place. Her article in the
Guardian newspaper ended by asking if the government does not accept
that "sex can be for fun". [The Guardian, 24 May] [Readers may be
interested to know that an information sheet on the health risks posed
by the morning-after pill is available from SPUC - simply drop a note
to information@spuc.freeserve.co.uk ]
More than 60 pro-life organisations in Argentina have published a
seven-point declaration which they hope will guide a series of
'reproductive health' bills being considered by the National Congress,
the Buenos Aires city legislature and the provincial legislatures. They
warned that in the language of international organisations,
'reproductive health' always includes access to surgical or chemical
abortion and attacks on the family. The points included the right to
life of the unborn from the moment of conception, the right of health
workers to refuse to promote contraceptive methods with probable
abortive effects, the right to information on the possible abortive
effects of contraceptive methods, and the right of parents to impart
sexual education to their children. [Zenit news agency, Buenos Aires,
22 May]
Actor Michael J Fox has called for human embryos to be used for stem
cell research. The American celebrity, who has been afflicted with
Parkinson's disease since 1991, was launching the Michael J Fox
Foundation for Parkinson's Research. He signalled his intention to
speak out on issues which relate to the search for a cure and said of
embryo research, "I just want to urge people to not follow a knee-jerk
reaction. This is tissue and cells that are going to be thrown away."
[Associated Press, from Fox News online, 23 May]
A spokesman for Hillary Clinton, American first lady and candidate in
the New York Senate race, has attacked a rival candidate for his more
conservative views on abortion. Congressman Rick Lazio is pro-abortion
but opposes state subsidies for poor women to have abortions and is
also in favour of a ban on partial-birth abortions. Mr Lazio insisted
that he has a record of supporting abortion, but Mrs Clinton's
spokesman, Howard Wolfson, said, "New Yorkers will learn that Rick
Lazio isn't really pro-choice. He is multiple choice and never met an
abortion restriction he didn't like or vote for." [CBS News online, 23
May]
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, 2010