Prolife Victories
Life on the Road
LIFENEWS.COM, Feb. 10 — If you drive in Iowa or Kentucky, you might be encouraged to “Choose Life” the next time you're stuck in traffic. Legislation is pending that would clear the way for those states to offer license plates bearing that slogan.
The Iowa bill is currently in the House Transportation Committee. Sales from the license plates would fund groups that help pregnant women seek alternatives to abortion.
The Kentucky bill, which passed in the Senate in early February, would give $20 from each plate's fee to the Kentucky Foster/Adoptive Care Association. The group would distribute the money to organizations that counsel women about adoption as an alternative to abortion.
U.K. Nonconfidential
The mother only learned about her daughter's abortion after reading the girl's diary. She was furious at doctors who performed the abortion without her knowledge.
“When she had her tonsils out I had to be there — but not for this,” the mother said. “The clinic just told me it was confidential.”
Currently, Department of Health guidelines say a girl under age 16 can give consent for treatment without telling her parents only if the doctor is convinced she is mature enough to make the decision and fully understands the procedure.
West Palm Beachers Push Back
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, Feb. 11 — Pro-life protestors are suing the city of West Palm Beach, Fla., and a local abortion site.
The lawsuit accuses police of roughing up demonstrators and challenges several trespassing arrests and a municipal noise ordinance, the wire service reported. Protestors say they have been illegally arrested for trying to distribute leaflets and are banned from using megaphones when the site's stereo speakers are used to drown out the demonstrators.
A district court judge said he would schedule a hearing on the injunction request sometime after mid-March.
Healthily Hippocratic Hospital
NEWS24.COM (South Africa), Feb. 13 — Staff at a major hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, are refusing to perform abortions at the hospital.
In order to protect employees against intimidation, however, the local pro-life lobby did not disclose the name of the hospital, the news site reported.
Last year, abortions were halted in Cape Town's Victoria Hospital after interns refused to perform the procedure.
Philip Rosenthal, coordinator of the Health Professionals Conscientious Objection Campaign, said the latest suspension of abortions is the pro-life lobby's “greatest victory yet.”
