Euthanasia in Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland ...

And now coming to France? A case involving a doctor and nurse charged with killing a terminally ill patient began in Périgueux March 13, reported Reuters. Laurence Tramois, a 35-year-old doctor, and a nurse, Chantal Chanel, 40, have admitted poisoning cancer patient Paulette Druais, 65, with a fatal dose of potassium chloride in 2003.

Sadly, more than 2,000 doctors and nurses in France signed a petition last week saying that they had performed similar actions and appealing for a change in the law to allow active euthanasia.

‘Right-to-Know’ Bill Presented in House of Commons

British Member of Parliament Angela Watkinson, above, presented a bill to the House of Commons that would inform parents if their minor daughters are given advice on contraception or abortion, BBC News reported.

Regarding the Contraception and Abortion (Parental Information) Bill, presented March 14, Watkinson said, “Very young children are bombarded with information about sex, information about contraception, and then an assumption is made that they are going to make wise decisions with this information.”

She added that the decision to have an abortion was “far too serious ... for a very young girl to reach on her own, or with the advice of a stranger.”

It is a Ten Minute Rule Bill, which means it is unlikely to become law, but Watkinson hopes it will publicize the issue more widely.

Church Opposes Australian Cloning Bill

According to the Australian website ABC News Online, Melbourne Bishop Christopher Prowse, above, said the Church will actively work to defeat “therapeutic” cloning legislation in Victoria.

The bill would allow scientists to employ the clone-and-kill method to extract stem cells from a human embryo. A conscience vote will be taken in April.

The bishop said, “I would have thought that the people in the rank and file of the community, in our streets and neighborhoods and our parishes, would be appalled to think that the government was moving in that direction.”