‘Baby Bonus’

CANADIAN PRESS, April 17 — Manitoba is introducing a baby bonus for the unborn to help low-income mothers give birth to healthier children, reported the Canadian Press news service.

Premier Gary Doer said the plan is the first of its kind in Canada. To be eligible for benefits, women must have a total family income of less than $32,000 (Canadian).

Benefits are provided on a sliding scale up to a maximum of $81.41 per month, reported the Canadian Press.

Lawsuit Over DNR Order

THE TIMES, April 19 — A British patient is planning to sue a doctor who wrote “do not resuscitate” in his hospital notes.

Chris Gardener, 60, a retired consultant, was horrified to find the notice, which had been written by Dr. David Cove. Gardener said that Cove did not discuss the decision with him beforehand, reported The Times.

Gardener was in the hospital to have both legs amputated. The “do not resuscitate” notice was issued Christmas Eve, 1999. He claimed that the file said neither he nor his family was to be informed of the decision.

Wisconsin Conscience Bill

MILWAUKEE JOURNAL SENTINEL, April 11 — A pro-life legislator has introduced a measure that would broaden Wisconsin's “conscience clause” for medical professionals, reported the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The state's existing conscience clause allows professionals to decline to perform abortions and sterilizations based on moral or religious grounds. Rep. Scott Walker's bill specifies that they could also refuse to participate in implanting fertilized eggs; withholding food and water; assisting at suicide or euthanasia; and in destroying human embryos or using fetal tissue.

The bill also extends protections to pharmacists, allowing them to object to providing drugs that can prevent embryo implantation.

Court Sides With Pro-Lifers

LIFESITE DAILY NEWS, April 9 — The city of Elkhorn, Wis., had to pay $6,630 after bailing out of a losing lawsuit filed by the American Family Association Center for Law & Policy on behalf of eight pro-lifers, reported LifeSite Daily News.

The city was acting on a new ordinance that seemed to be written specifically to shut down pro-life protests.

Federal Judge Joseph P. Stadtmueller issued Elkhorn a stern warning from the bench saying the ordinance was a “2x4 across the brow of the First Amendment.”