Zoe's Cause

THE CHICAGO TRIBUNE, Feb. 4 — A premature baby born smaller than a Barbie doll Jan. 6 is making steady progress.

Zoe Koz weighed only 10.8 ounces at birth and was about the size of a small can of tomato paste. As the Chicago daily reported, the baby's birth and first month of life are a testament to the advances in neonatal medicine and the expansion of highly specialized medicine.

But Zoe's survival is also is due to the will of a young couple from Plainfield, Ill., who conceived despite the odds stacked against them (her mother suffers from lupus, an autoimmune disease).

Hospital officials said Zoe is one of the smallest babies in the world to survive so long and is the third-smallest live baby on record in the country.

Life Trek

THE QUAD-CITY TIMES, Feb. 3 — A Minnesota pair is making a 2,100-mile trek from their home state to Florida in order to promote respect for life.

Miro Kovachevich and Colleen Clobes, both members of the Minneapolis-based Suspend Abortion Compact organization, began their journey Dec. 12, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. They walked south along the Mississippi River en route to their final destination, Tallahassee, Fla. They plan to be in the Florida capital on May 13, feast of Our Lady of Fatima.

While in Florida, the pair hopes to visit Gov. Jeb Bush to support him in his fight for brain-damaged Terri Schiavo's life. The walkers had a five-minute session Feb. 2 with Davenport, Iowa, Bishop William Franklin, who gave them a blessing.

Praising Arizona KMSB-TV (Arizona), Feb. 6 — An Arizona House committee voted Feb. 6 in favor of a 24-hour waiting period for abortions.

The bill also requires that information on the risks and alternatives to abortion be provided to women considering abortion.

“You're pregnant for nine months,” Kelly Copeland of the Southern Arizona Life Team told the TV station. “Twenty-four hours in a pregnant woman's life is not a long time.”

The station noted that a similar bill is currently moving through the state Senate.

Up With Utah SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, Feb. 3 — Pro-life legislation is abundant in the Utah Legislature.

The House is working on a measure to halt state funding to groups that promote abortion as well as a resolution condemning the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court Roe v. Wade decision.

Add to that two Senate-approved bills banning partial-birth abortion, the public funding of abortions and a bill to create Choose Life license plates (with proceeds going to pregnancy-support centers), and one busy legislative session is on the way.

Rep. Morgan Philpot, R-Midvale, mentioned Planned Parenthood as a “prime suspect” for his bill, which strips public funds from groups that promote abortion, according to the paper. He said he fears the group is promoting abortion in public schools through a sex-education program it sponsors.