New Life After Sept. 11

ASSOCIATED PRESS, Sept. 20—Two children have already been born to widows of men who died in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade towers.

Gabriel Benjamin Jacobs was born six days after his father, Ariel, died while attending a conference in the restaurant at the top of the Trade Center. Gabriel's grandmother described the boy's mother, Jenna Jacobs, as “a very strong young woman.”

Allison Lee was born to Kellie Lee in Los Angeles two days after her father, Daniel, died aboard American Airlines Flight 11. Daniel Lee worked as a stage carpenter for the Backstreet Boys.

Stem Cell Cure

THE TELEGRAPH, Sept. 18—A 3-year-old boy was cured of a fatal disease with the aid of stem cells from his sister's placenta, reported London's Telegraph.

Tom Stretch inherited a disease of the white blood cells, called chronic granulomatous, that “would probably have led to his death in his 20s,” the report said.

When a daughter, Hanna, was born to the family last November, doctors in Newcastle-upon-Tyne took stem cells from the placenta and transplanted them into Tom.

Proponents of research that does not destroy embryos pointed to the doctors' success as new evidence of the potential of stem cells acquired ethically.

Pro-Life Politician

BBC NEWS ONLINE, Sept. 13—Britain's Conservative party has a new leader with a pro-life voting record.

Iain Duncan Smith, a Catholic, has voted consistently against cloning and euthanasia, “and is reported to be against abortion,” the BBC said.

Smith was elected 61% to 39% over Kenneth Clarke, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Rare Cases

IRISH INDEPENDENT, Sept. 14—The Irish Medical Council voted Sept. 12 to allow the “termination of pregnancy” when there is “a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother.”

Irish pro-lifers welcomed the decision because it was accompanied by an interpretation that clearly distinguished between “abortion carried out with the intention of taking the life of the baby ... and the unavoidable death of the baby resulting from essential treatment to protect the life of the mother.”

The interpretation also said that such interventions to save mothers were rare.

Youth Take On the U.N.

CITIZEN, Sept. 2001—A 23-year-old home-schooled Canadian woman leads an effective pro-life organization at the United Nations, said Citizen magazine.

In 1999, with several friends, Anna Halpine formed the World Youth Alliance in response to the “off-the-wall ideas of the [U.N.] youth caucus.”

The group now represents about one million young people from around the world who want to stop today's pro-abortion “assault” on fundamental human rights.