News, 29 November 2005

Clinica Ginemedex, the Spanish clinic exposed by undercover Telegraph reporters for performing illegal late abortions on British women, performed an abortion on a young Muslim woman after her father and brothers murdered her fiancé, the Telegraph reports. Thames Valley Police are considering prosecuting Chomir Ali and his sons, who have already been convicted of the murder of Arash Ghorbani-Zarin. Mr Ghorbani-Zarin's father said 'Manna's family have not only killed my son but also my unborn grandchild. We would have looked after the child and it would have had a loving family'. [Daily Telegraph, 27 November]

A government inquiry is to be launched following reports that around 50 babies are born alive each year in the UK after failed abortion attempts. The investigation by CEMACH, Confidential Enquiry into Maternal and Child Health, suggests that doctors are failing to carry out RCOG guidelines which attempt to ensure that babies do not survive birth in induced abortions. 'If a baby is born alive following a failed abortion and then dies (because of lack of care), you could potentially be charged with murder' said Shantala Vadeyar, a consultant obstetrician at South Manchester University Hospitals NHS Trust. [The Times, 27 November]

Voters in the small Alpine principality of Liechtenstein have rejected a pro-life constitutional amendment by 80% to 20 %. Instead, the majority chose to accept a government counter-proposal which will legalise abortion. Archbishop Wolfgang Haas campaigned heavily in favour of the pro-life measure, calling the government counterproposal 'a death melody'. Liechenstein's population of 33,000 is said to be 75% Catholic. [The Guardian, 28 November]

Some doctors in the United States are no longer willing to prescribe the Orth-Evra birth control patch after a safety warning issued by the FDA three weeks ago, Medical News Today reports. The FDA warned on 8 November that women using Ortho-Evra have an increased risk of developing blood clots from the high levels of oestrogen contained in the patch. [Medical News Today, 28 November]

The Australian Education Minister, Brendan Nelson, has voiced his support for lifting the ban on the RU-486 abortion drug. Although claiming that he personally is not in favour of abortion, Dr.Nelson said that if one supports the availability of surgical abortion, there is 'no logical basis for opposing medically procured abortion'. Tony Abbott the Health Minister opposes lifting the ban on RU-486. [The Australian, 25 November]

The Catholic bishops of Australia have set out their opposition to the introduction of the abortion pill into Australia. In a statement released at the end of last week's Plenary meeting, the bishops expressed their concern that 'Rather than focusing attention upon positive strategies to help women continue with their pregnancies, we are now hearing calls for the introduction of yet another method of abortion. This chemical solution to a major social and personal problem is no solution at all'. [CathNews.com 28 November]

Gianna Jessen, the musician from Tennessee who survived an attempt to abort her 28 years ago, has been prevented from speaking at Ireland's largest university because of alleged insurance concerns. Ultrasound, the pro-life student network organising Ms Jessen's tour of Irish colleges were told, on the morning of the event, by University College Dublin that the insurance cover they had provided was insufficient. A last-minute attempt to comply with UCD's demands found that none of the insurance companies contacted offered such a level of cover. Ultrasound commented: 'This sort of insurance has never before been demanded by UCD to allow a speaker and it would seem that this obstacle was raised to prevent Ms Jessen's story being heard'. [LifeNews.com 25 November]

An Australian doctor is standing trial in Sydney for the manslaughter of an unborn child who died five hours after a botched abortion attempt. In 2002, Dr Suman Sood allegedly prescribed the RU-486 abortion drug to a woman who was 22 weeks pregnant although this was over the limit for legal abortions in the New South Wales province and well over the time limit for using the drug, which is illegal in Australia. [LifeNews.com 25 November]

Catholic clergy across Missouri warned congregations at Mass last Sunday not to sign a petition in support of a proposed constitutional amendment which would allow embryonic stem cell research and human cloning for research in the state. Supporters of the petition need to gather 145,000 signatures in order to secure a vote on the amendment next year. [The Guardian, 28 November]

The Centre for Bio-Ethical Reform has gone to court over a ban preventing them from displaying images of aborted babies as aerial advertisements in Hawaii. The group's lawyer told an appeals court that the images 'convey messages that are rhetorically inexpressible' and that the ban violated their freedom of speech. Hawaii authorities fear the presence of such images will make the island less attractive to tourists. [The Guardian, 25 November]

A survey conducted by the Recruitment Employment Federation has found that one in four companies will avoid employing pregnant women or women of childbearing age, despite the fact that such discrimination is illegal. Small businesses are said to be especially likely to be reluctant to employ women because they do not have the resources for maternity cover. [The Guardian, 25 November]

The Indiana Supreme Court has upheld by 4-1 a state law that requires a woman seeking an abortion to receive counselling about medical risks and alternatives to abortion and to wait at least eighteen hours before undergoing the abortion. The court dismissed arguments that the law violated the right to privacy, saying that the law "does not impose a material burden on any right to privacy or abortion that may be provided or protected" under the state constitution. It did not rule on whether such a right, or a right to abortion, existed in the constitution. [Chicago Tribune, 24 November]

Drs John and Evelyn Billings, the husband and wife team who developed the method of natural family planning known as the Billings Ovulation Method, have been awarded an honorary doctorate in medicine by the University of Rome. A spokesperson for WOOMB (World Organisation Ovulation Method Billings) said that the event reflects a growing recognition among Universities of 'the scientific, medical, cultural and social value of natural methods'. [CathNews.com 25 November]

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, 2013



© SPUC 2013