Fewer Abortions

LIFENEWS.COM, Dec. 10 — Abortions in Pennsylvania have dropped for the first time in three years.

A Pennsylvania Department of Health study showed the Keystone State's abortion rate rose slightly in 2000 and 2001, but in 2002 it declined 4.5%. The total number of children who died from abortion in 2002 was 35,167 — or 1,653 fewer than the previous year.

The Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation attributed the decline to a decrease in the number of facilities registered to perform abortions in the state, along with the success of Real Alternatives, a state-funded program that offers alternatives to women contemplating abortion.

Not Welcome

CATHOLIC CITIZENS OF ILLINOIS, Nov. 20 — The Diocese of Rockford, Ill., has found a way to keep pro-abortion speakers off Church property.

In response to requests by state Sen. Patrick O'Malley, R-Palos Park, that a policy be instituted, the diocese released the following statement:

“In the Diocese of Rockford, permission to speak at or use diocesan, parish or institutional property shall not be granted to individuals who hold any view that is contrary to the Catholic magisterium's moral teaching and practice.”

O'Malley had previously attended a protest outside St. Xavier University in Chicago, the watch group reported, where former Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar, an abortion supporter, spoke to students about his “moral compass.”

Out of the Bag

CNSNEWS.COM, Dec. 12 — Abortion supporters’ controversial strategies for advancing the anti-life agenda are now part of the Congressional Record.

Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., introduced on Dec. 8 memos that revealed the pro-abortion Center for Reproductive Rights’ strategy for promoting abortion worldwide, unedited, into the official record of proceedings and debates of the U.S. Congress.

The Center for Reproductive Rights had tried to stop — via legal action — the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute from releasing the memos but were stymied by Smith's actions.

The documents, clearly not meant for public consumption, the news service reported, included such notes as “We have to fight harder, be a little dirtier.”

Right to Life

BBC, Dec. 10 — If a French woman whose fetus was wrongfully terminated has her way, all unborn children in Europe will have the right to life.

In a mix-up during a 1991 doctor's visit, Thi-Nho Vo was given the wrong procedure by a doctor who perforated her uterus and caused her 6-month-old unborn baby to die.

The doctor, Francois Golfier, was eventually convicted of involuntary manslaughter. He appealed on the grounds that the fetus was not a human being and therefore not protected under criminal law. The court ruled in his favor.

Vo is fighting that decision based on Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees a right to life.