White House Tenders "Conscience Clause" on Abortion, Some Abortifacients

The plan being submitted is designed to protect doctors and nurses who refuse to administer abortions or prescribe abortifacient pills. All recipient health care providers would be required to certify that they will not fire or refuse to hire personnel who morally oppose abortion.

More at Catholic World News

Myanmar to Receive Around 250,000 Condoms from U.N. Population Fund

The UN News Centre reports:

"The World Health Organization (WHO) today issued a warning that monsoon rains in Myanmar were increasing the risks of an outbreak of disease. WHO says it is working with the Government to set up a surveillance system to monitor possible outbreaks.

Meanwhile, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned that hundreds of thousands of people in the remote areas of the Irrawaddy delta still do not have sufficient food to eat."

The report also states that, "more than 100,000 people may have been killed since the storm struck on 2 May."

Enter the UNFPA. In addition to sending kits with provisions for pregnant women to be assisted in delivering - medical equipment for needed blood transfusions, rubber gloves for midwives, the organization is making sure to pack "supplies" to prevent unwanted pregnancies. In other words, this starving and devastated people that has lost thousands of members of its population will receive thousands and thousands of condoms from the UN Population Fund.

UNFPA Myanmar Update
CWNews Article

European Courts to Decide Whether or Not Matthew the Chimp is a Person

"36-year-old Miss Stibbe and the Vienna-based Association Against Animal Factories have filed an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg."

The animal sanctuary in Vienna where Matthew is taken care of for 4,000 pounds a month is bankrupt and may be forced to close. Some have offered to help share the expenses if the facility is closed, but only a human may be the recipient of personal gifts in Austria. However, the activists are concerned that if he leaves Austria, he will not be protected legally against animal cruelty.

"Miss Stibbe, who is from Brighton but has lived in Vienna for several years, says she is not trying to get the chimp declared a human, just a person."

The legal team of Matthew and Stibbe press the question of whether chimps are also the "bearer of human rights."

"A spokesman for the court in Strasbourg said: 'Any application regarding this chimpanzee will be considered at a primary level by a magistrate and a lawyer before we decide whether it deserves a full-blown hearing.'"

Unborn children up to 24 weeks are not the "bearers of human rights" under Austrian law. They are not protected legally and may be terminated without parental consent by a mother as young as 14.


ThisisLondon Article

US Supreme Court Upholds Debated Part of Law Against Child Pornography

The Supreme Court determined that theatrical reproductions of sex involving minors in movies like "Traffic" or "Titanic", classic literature, and emails with text describing grandchildren do not involve a credible threat of being mistakenly prosecuted under the term, "simulated sexual intercourse," currently prohibited in U.S.C.§2252A(a)(3)(B).

Story from AP

Official Supreme Court Document for Decision of U.S. vs. Williams, 06-694

"It is necessary to bear concrete witness to the fact that respect for life is the first form of justice that must be applied," says Pope.

Pope Benedict XVI met with thousands from the Italian Movement for Life in the Hall of Blessing yesterday. He stated that abortion, rather than actually solving any problems, has instead "opened another wound in our societies."

The Movement for Life is proposing several pieces of legislation on the 30th anniversary of the legalization of abortion in Italy. The group, led by Carlo Casini, stands for the right to life at conception, the institution of marriage as being between a man and a woman, and the right of all conceived children to be born and raised in a family with parents.

The pope also reiterated that this year is the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. During his visit to the UN, the pope drew attention to this fact and urged the world body to recognize that their document is based on natural law.

Harvard Researcher: Money Spent to Fight HIV in Africa is Poorly Managed

Harvard Researchers reported in the university's Science Magazine this week on the matter of HIV prevention in Africa. Malcom Potts, a family planning researcher at University of California, Berkeley, described how most of the money that goes into fighting the HIV epidemic in African countries goes towards condoms and voluntary testing and counseling, and very little towards the more proven methods of male circumcision and education about reducing sexual activity with multiple partners. Male circumcision education programs are effective, because apparently inside the foreskin is contained a large number of "Langerhans cells" that can pick up HIV, whereas circumcised males do not have the same level vulnerability and are about 50% less likely to acquire the disease in the act of sexual intercourse.

As of yet, maybe only 2 or 3% of the overall funding is used to promote male circumcision.

Potts also reports that contrary to the notion that the poverty in Africa is what creates the situation for the disease to spread, he says, "In all the countries where we have demographic and health surveys, it tends to be the upper economic quintiles, both men and interestingly of women, who have the highest prevalence of the disease - it's more urban than rural. So, undoubtedly, you know, poverty makes everything more difficult, but it's not the driving factor. The driving factor is that men use wealth and power to have sex - and it's a pretty universal behavior."

This information was taken from the transcript of a radio interview. More information gleaned from the actual subscription only magazine report is at CWNews. They mention the high success rates of abstinence education in Uganda, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Malawi, and Ivory Coast.

Cardinal Cipriani: Avoid Getting Concerned About Fabricated Human Rights

The Cardinal from Peru warned against "human rights" that are founded by international organizations such as the United Nations. True rights and freedom have their origin in the natural law he stated.

CWNews reports, " The cardinal went on to put his listeners on guard against political organizations that push for recognition of new forms of "human rights," including alleged rights to abortion or to define one's own gender preference."

full article