Pro-Life Photo Now Free

LIFESITE DAILY NEWS, Sept. 23—Remember the photo of baby Samuel's hand reaching out from his mother's uterus during fetal surgery? The image has turned the veteran photojournalist behind the shot into a pro-life activist.

Michael Clancy, who snapped the photo for USA Today after seeing the baby's hand jut out of the hole in the womb made by the surgeons, now offers his image free of charge to pro-life groups.

In his business's mission statement, according to the Canadian Web service, Clancy says he wants to “print the picture of Samuel on posters for donation to Crisis Pregnancy Centers.” Billboards, he adds, are next on the agenda.

S.C. Records Law Upheld

ASSOCIATED PRESS, Sept. 19—A South Carolina law allowing state inspectors access to all abortion-clinic records does not violate patients' privacy rights, a federal appeals court has ruled, Associated Press reported.

The 2-1 decision by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a lower- court ruling on the privacy issue, said the report.

Two clinics had challenged the regulations, arguing the confidentiality of patient information is vital because women seeking abortions could face harassment. However, the appeals court noted that the state is required to keep patient records confidential, said the news service.

The court upheld other provisions in the law stating that abortionists must have admitting privileges at a hospital in case of emergency, clergy must be available for counseling if requested by a patient and abortion clinics must meet a variety of building standards, for example, to insure proper air flow.

Peruvian Cardinal Denounces Pill AGENCIA EFE, Sept. 20—Peruvian Cardinal Juan Luis Cipriani has denounced the use of the morning-after pill, calling it a crime because it causes a “chemical abortion,” reported the service.

In a speech inaugurating a debate on bioethics sponsored by Peru's Catholic Church, Cardinal Cipriani said the morning-after pill was “an attack on life.”

Present at the conference was Health Minister Fernando Carbone, who has been accused of basing the government's family-planning policies on Catholic ideas. Carbone suspended the distribution of the morning-after pills at public clinics in the country.

End Of Contraceptive Dumping LIFESITE DAILY NEWS, Sept. 25—The Agency for International Development (USAID) says it will end its supply of contraceptives to the Philippines within two years, reported Lifesite.

Agence France-Presse reported that USAID will continue to push $3 million worth of contraceptives in 2003 and 2004 on the largely Catholic country but will end the supply afterward.