Politics
Tuesday September 4, 2001
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PrintMANNING SUPPORTS DESTRUCTIVE RESEARCH ON HUMAN EMBRYOS
ALL TODAY'S HEADLINES
Endorses far more liberal position than that of U.S. President Bush
OTTAWA, September 4, 2001 (LSN.ca) - Canadian Alliance MP Preston Manning, founder of the Reform Party, has sorely disappointed social conservatives with his explicit endorsement of destructive experimentation on human embryos. The former Reform Party leader did not indicate that his endorsement had any conditions such as U.S. President Bush's emphatic limit on experimentation to cell lines derived from previously killed embryos only. In an interview with the Canadian Press released Friday, Manning said he supported embryonic stem cell research, falsely calling it the "lesser of two evils." In related news, the Alliance Party - the Official Opposition - has asked the Liberal government to institute an immediate ban on human cloning in Canada.
"The country just can't afford to be behind in this area," Manning said in the interview. "We owe it to our people to be in front and we owe it to our scientists to be in front." Karen Murawsky, National Affairs director of Campaign Life Coalition responded, "Canada can always afford to be behind in immoral and unethical actions."
Manning ignored the fact that the lives of human beings created via in vitro fertilization can be saved by implantation into adoptive mothers' wombs. He also did not mention that the human embryos used in stem cell research are killed when used for research. He said: "(That's) where you get into the moral choice between the lesser of two evils -- either the destruction of the embryo or its use in research that may potentially heal someone . I think most people would concede that (the use of embryos for research) is the lesser of two evils in that case." Jim Hughes, National President of Campaign Life Coalition responded that there is "no such thing as a lesser of two evils when you are killing human beings, all you are left with is evil."
Eric Duhaime, spokesperson for Stockwell Day told LifeSite that while Manning is the critic for the party on these issues, the party has no official position on the matter as it is not part of party policy. Duhaime said the issue would be discussed at the September 14 policy conference in Ottawa and again at next year's policy convention. However, sources inside the party told LifeSite that Manning's views "don't represent anyone but himself" and that many Alliance MPs are at odds with Manning's view. "He really is demonstrating Liberal tendencies with his position. He has no moral justification and no legitimate medical justification either." The matter is expected to be brought up in caucus this week.
In related news, Manning and Alliance colleague Diane Ablonczy, acting on behalf of the Canadian Alliance asked Health Minister Allan Rock to immediately introduce legislation banning "reproductive cloning in Canada and the creation of embryos solely for research purposes." In the letter, the Alliance also requested "Immediate fulfillment of the government's commitment to significantly increase the budget of the Canadian Institutes for Health Research, including increased funding for research into the development of stem cells from non-embryonic sources." And importantly, " Immediate attention by the Health Committee to defining the legal status of the embryo in Canada and the best regulatory mechanism for ensuring that this status is respected in the conduct of related research."
Responding to the request in the media Health Minister Allan Rock's spokesperson said there was no intention to accelerate a ban on human cloning.
See LifeSite's Stem Cell News and Resources page
http://www.lifesite.net/features/stemcellembryo/index.html
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UPDATE ON THE UN CHILD RIGHTS SUMMIT PREPARATIONS
Latin Americans unexpectedly flip to pro-abortion from past history of being pro-life
NEW YORK, September 4, 2001 (LSN.ca) - Negotiations at the United Nations that were to conclude the preparations for the September 19-21 World Summit for Children, were bogged down last week over references to abortion and parental rights. Contentious wording prevented agreement on a final draft document for the Summit and resulted in the scheduling of an additional session to run from tomorrow until Friday.
LifeSite correspondents at the United Nations noted that the most contentious language in the document concerning abortion, homosexuality and parental rights is to be debated this week. Sessions last week were closed to NGO participation as are this week's sessions.
Last week's Monday and Tuesday sessions were partially open and pro-life NGO's were surprised to see the RIO group - a coalition of countries mostly representing Latin America - pushing for language supporting abortion. Chile, the current spokesman for the Rio group, insisted on the inclusion of the term "reproductive health services" in the document, despite the fact that it was revealed by Canada that the term includes provision of abortion. The United States and other countries objected to the terminology since it may constitute a mandate for providing abortion for adolescents. The Rio group claimed it would not interpret the phrase as including abortion, but refused to agree to an additional phrase in the document that would exclude abortion as part of such services.
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CHILE'S HIGH COURT SAYS "NO" TO MORNING AFTER PILL
Socialist government pushing abortion, divorce and sex-ed
SANTIAGO, Chile, September 4, 2001 (LSN.ca) - The Chilean Supreme Court has recognized the abortifacient component of the "morning-after" birth-control pill and banned its use in Chile, where abortion is illegal. The 3-2 vote overturns a lower court ruling and goes against the Chilean government health ministry's approval of the pill.
"The free distribution of this drug--promoted as an inoffensive contraception--would have opened the doors of the nation to the terrible scourge of abortion and its sinister culture of death,'' read a statement from the conservative group, Chile's Destiny. The morning-after pill stops a fertilized egg from being implanted in the lining of the womb.
Chilean socialist President Ricardo Lagos is also struggling with moral conservatives over the issues of divorce and sex education. His government criticized the high court for using its authority to override the health ministry in a medical issue, and criticized the Catholic Church for encouraging citizens not to vote for politicians supporting abortion or divorce. Chile, approximately 75% Catholic, is the only Western democracy in addition to Malta where divorce is illegal.
For further information please see:
http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/nm/20010831/hl/chile_1.html and:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/americas/newsid_1517000/1517185.stm
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MAJORITY OF CANADIANS BACK SCHOOL VOUCHERS
TORONTO, September 4, 2001 (LSN.ca) - A new poll has found that 57% of Canadians support a voucher system that would allow parents to allocate their children's share of public education money towards the institution of their choice. "People want not only to be able to hold ministries and schools accountable, but if they feel the outcomes are not satisfactory they want the choice of going elsewhere," said Fred Wall, a researcher at COMPAS, which conducted the poll for the National Post/Global.
Every Canadian province currently funds private education to some degree, but there are no voucher systems in place. Ontario is introducing a program that will give money for private schooling directly to parents through a tax credit, which will be worth up to $3,500 per student.
Chile has the most extensive voucher system in the world and educators say the program has improved student achievement and made the public system more accountable.
For more see:
http://www.nationalpost.com/home/story.html?f=/stories/20010904/683135.html
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NURSE WHO EXPOSED INFANTICIDE FIRED
CHICAGO, September 4, 2001 (LSN.ca) -A nurse who exposed her hospital's practice of allowing aborted children to slowly die after premature delivery has been fired from her job of eight years. Jill Stanek said that when she returned to work Friday she was told that she had been fired and was escorted from the building.
Two years ago Stanek drew national attention to Christ hospital, affiliated with the United Church of Christ and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, when she documented an abortion procedure known as "induction of labour." The practice often leaves babies alive, after which they are refused treatment, food and water until their deaths.
In July Stanek had testified on the issue before the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, and just two weeks before her dismissal a newspaper article had highlighted the history of her protests against the hospital's abortion procedure. "It couldn't be coincidence this happened right after the article," Stanek said. Hospital officials denied the firing had anything to do with the delivery room nurse's abortion views.
For further details go to:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0109030196sep03.story?coll=
chi%2Dnewslocalchicago%2Dhed
For background information please see previous lifesite coverage:
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/1999/sept/990930.html
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LIFESITE NEWSBYTES
UNBORN MAY FEEL PAIN AS EARLY AS 20 WEEKS
As U.S. pro-life groups launches a campaign next week to bring a ban on late-term abortions back to Congress, a new study out of Great Britain shows that the unborn child may feel pain as early as 20 weeks.
http://foxnews.com/story/0,2933,33437,00.html
WOMEN HAD ABORTIONS IN RESPONSE TO JOB LOSS THREATS
Union officials and legal counsel are coming to the aid of a Washington D.C. medical worker who aborted her child for fear of losing her job. The young woman and other rookies were told by a top official from the fire department's Emergency Medical Services that they would be fired if they became pregnant or took medical leave. At least 10 other women in the same department have recounted incidents where officials discriminated against them because of pregnancy.
http://asp.washtimes.com/printarticle.asp?action=print&ArticleID=20010830-611756...
EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS NO BETTER THAN ADULT CELLS
The president of the German Pharmaceutical Industry Association says that there is no proven benefit to using embryonic stem cells over adult cells in developing new medications.
http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=9319
NETSCAPE FOUNDER SUSPENDS BIG DONATION TO LAB
American billionaire Jim Clark, founder of internet companies such as Netscape and WebMD, has suspended a $60m donation for a bio-medical lab at Stanford University to protest Bush's restrictions on stem cell research and cloning.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/low/english/sci/tech/newsid_1520000/1520448.stm
PRO-ABORTION MILITANT SEN. KENNEDY TO GO AFTER BUSH OVER STEM CELLS
President Bush's decision to limit embryonic stem cell research will likely come under fire this week when Sen. Edward Kennedy heads a congressional panel investigating the availability and accessibility of existing embryonic stem cell lines.
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewPolitics.asp?Page=\Politics\archive\200109\POL2001090...
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