News, 4 February 2000
President Clinton was at a prayer-breakfast where a message from the
pope described abortion as the greatest modern civil rights issue. John
Paul II urged the USA to set an example to the rest of the world by
legally protecting the unborn. [Agence France Presse quoted in Pro-Life
E-News, 3 February, 2000]
Comments on the US National Institutes of Health's draft guidelines on
stem cell research (cf. yesterday's lead story) must be received on or
before the 22nd of this month. [email from a subscriber, based on
http://www.nih.gov/news/pr/jan2000/od-31.htm]
Researchers are urging expectant mothers to have their babies screened
for a potentially fatal genetic blood disorder, even if the mothers are
opposed to abortion. The UK Confidential Inquiry into Antenatal
Screening for Thalassaemia claims that medical authorities wrongly
assume that people from certain ethnic backgrounds would reject testing
for moral reasons. Thalassaemia must be treated soon after birth. [BBC
website, 4 February, 2000] SPUC sounds a note of caution. Although
thalassaemia can, indeed, be treated, medical staff are known to put
pressure on parents to have their child aborted once a disorder has
been detected.
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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, 2012