United States Opts Out

INQUIRER NEWS SERVICE, Oct. 14 — The United States has declined to suppor t the United Nations' 1994 population-control program focusing on “women's rights,” a term that is little more than a euphemism for abor tion, sterilization and bir th control.

The Bush administration would not endorse the statement signed by 250 people — including leaders of 85 nations and former U.S. presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Car ter — earlier this month. The statement urged the United Nations to fur ther its “action plan” for population control, including the upholding of “sexual and reproductive rights.”

The U.S. refusal is based on objections to the term “sexual rights,” which has no “agreed definition,” a State Depar tment letter said.

Canadians Trend Pro-Life

LIFECANADA, Oct. 15 — Sixty-eight percent of Canadians favor some legal protection for unborn children, with 33% of these saying that protection should be from conception, according to a poll commissioned by the Canadian pro-life organization. A similar poll taken one year ago found 63% wanted some legal protection before bir th.

The latest poll also found significant and growing majorities in favor of requiring counseling about the risks of abor tion and alternatives to it (73%, up from 69% last year) and in favor of parental consent for minors seeking abor tions (55% from 42% in 2003).

Call for Care, Not Killing

GUERNSEY PRESS & STAR, Oct. 13 — More often than not, relatives of the terminally ill — not the patients themselves — opt for euthanasia, according to Ann Mar tin, director of nursing at Les Bourgs Hospice on the Channel Island of Guernsey. “I can appreciate why they ask,” she said, “because they do not want to see someone who they think is suffering.”

She spoke on behalf of the hospice's board of governors in agreement with a government repor t that recommends keeping euthanasia illegal in Guernsey and against a minority repor t that suppor ts limited mercy killing.

She said the hospice was keen to see the appointment of a palliative-care clinician who specializes in treating the person's pain, not the disease that is causing it.