More People, More Growth

WALL STREET JOURNAL, April 6 — According to the newest figures from the U.S. Census Bureau, not only did the population register the largest census-to-census increase in history, the United States now has 6 million more people than the best estimates predicted, for a total of 281.4 million Americans, reported the Wall Street Journal.

The pattern is striking because it marks the only time over the past century that America had population growth in every state of the union — and in cities as well as the countryside.

The population increase coincided with a strong economy, reported the Journal. Today real median household income is $40,816, its highest level since the census started tracking it in 1967.

The Journal said that the occurrence of record economic growth during a period of record population growth should remind us that the most important way to look at human beings is as minds, not mouths.

Death of Unborn Stirs Debate

ASSOCIATED PRESS, April 6 — A highway crash that killed a pregnant mother and her unborn daughter may revive the legal debate in Kentucky about when an unborn child becomes a baby and has legal rights, reported the Associated Press.

Troy Thornsbury was driving to the hospital on March 25 with his wife, Veronica Jane Thornsbury, who was in labor and ready to deliver their second child. Halfway there, their car was struck on the passenger side by a pickup truck.

A doctor performed a Caesarean section at the accident scene 10 to 15 minutes after the mother stopped breathing. The infant was stillborn.

Although the courts and news media cannot decide yet if the baby was a fetus or a person protected by law, many residents say there is no question, especially after seeing the photo of the dead infant dressed in pink and wrapped in a blanket printed in the local newspaper.

Rev. Paul Badgett, pastor of a local church, said, “What that precious mother was carrying in her womb was life. I think even people on the other side of the pro-life argument would agree that was a baby.”

‘Abortion Strike’ in France

THE MEDICAL POST, April 3 — An “abortion strike” by the French Association of Gynecologists has thrown the government's plans to change the country's abortion regulations into disarray, reported the Canadian journal, The Medical Post.

The government wants to allow abortions up to 12 weeks instead of 10. However, members of the association are refusing to carry out any more abortions until they receive more money along with more training for young doctors and better working conditions in French hospitals, reported The Medical Post.

More than 1,000 doctors have closed ranks, with many of them canceling scheduled abortions for the foreseeable future.