News, 28 May 2004
A Northern Ireland councillor has attacked a sex poster campaign by the
Health Promotion Agency which includes pictures of semi-naked men and
women and photographs of pubic sores. Cllr Roy Gillespie said: "It's
verging on pornographic. I appreciate that the Health Promotion Agency
has a job to do but no right-thinking business should display these in
a public place." Dr Brian Gaffney, Chief Executive of the agency
defended the campaign, saying that it had been 'very carefully
researched.' He added that many of the posters had gone missing, which
he put down to people taking them to display at home. [
Ballymena Times, 28 May]
Dr Philip Nitschke, the Australian euthanasia campaigner, plans to set
up a base in North America so that he can continue his Internet
campaign to teach people how to commit suicide. The Australian federal
government has drafted a bill that would prevent the use of the
Internet for criminal activities, ranging from child pornography to
material that "directly or indirectly, promotes, counsels, or incites
suicide, or provides instruction on how to commit suicide." Nitschke
believes he is being specifically targeted and takes exception to the
fact that child pornography and euthanasia are being dealt with in the
same bill, claiming that it is an attempt "to discredit the voluntary
euthanasia movement." [
CNSNews, 27 May]
Three New Zealand teenagers have been jailed for trying to kill an
unborn baby, News 24 reports. Shaun Williams-Metcalf, 16, took friends
Geoffrey Ruaporo and Kyle Donovan to a park where they attacked his
ex-girlfriend, kicking her in the stomach in an attempt to cause her to
miscarry. The three pleaded guilty to attempting to procure an
abortion, aggravated robbery and inflicting injury with intent. The
woman, who cannot be named, later gave birth to a baby girl. [
News24, 27 May]
A Ugandan MP has called for the government to legalise abortion, All
Africa reports. Sylvia Ssinabulya MP, who is also an executive member
of Uganda's Family Planning Association, used the plight of women raped
in war zones to press her case, saying that abortions should be allowed
before 12 weeks so that: "At that stage one can't be called a
murderer." [
Allafrica.com, 27 May]
An Illinois county health department has settled a lawsuit filed by a
former secretary who said that she was denied a promotion because of
her opposition to abortion. Francis J. Manion, Senio Counsel of the
American Centre for Law and Justice which represented Faith Moncivaiz,
welcomed the $40,000 out-of-court settlement, stating: "Public and
private employers need to know that pro-life employees enjoy legal
protection under existing federal and state laws." The department did
not accept liability as part of the settlement. [
Lifenews.com, 27 May]
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