Personhood Prevails

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, June 18 — As long as it's viable (capable of surviving outside the womb) a fetus should be considered a person, according to the Kentucky Supreme Court.

The court ruled June 17 that the wrongful killing of such a fetus should also be considered a homicide, the Associated Press reported.

Justice William Cooper, writing for the majority, noted medical advancements have shown fetal viability is as provable as birth or stillbirth, thereby throwing out the “born alive” rule that previously existed.

The new law defines an unborn child as a member of the human species “from conception onward.”

Pryor Dismissal Halted

THE MONTGOMERY ADVERTISER (Alabama), June 12 — Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., tried to argue that pro-life Alabama Attorney General Bill Pryor's recess appointment to the federal appeals court in Atlanta was unconstitutional. But Pryor's fellow judges have ruled against Kennedy.

Kennedy's argument “is untimely, and we decline to grant leave for a late filing,” Chief Judge J.L. Edmondson wrote June 10, noting the deadline had expired April 28, the Montgomery Advertiser reported.

President Bush appointed Pryor to the bench Feb. 20, ducking a Democratic filibuster in the Senate.

Denied

THE VALLEY MORNING STAR (Texas), June 16 — A Harlingen, Texas, city commission has voted not to include Planned Parenthood for funding by a community-development block grant.

More than 20 people, including the president of Stand Up and Be Counted, a coalition of pro-life church members, doctors and citizens, voiced their support for current block grant funding that does not include Planned Parenthood, the Valley Morning Star reported.

The executive director of the local Planned Parenthood tried to argue that the $6,000 it applied for would be to help teen mothers, not for abortions. The commission denied her application anyway.

Bishop Leads Vigil

EPPING FOREST GUARDIAN (U.K.), June 17 — A bishop in the United Kingdom is speaking out against abortion.

Bishop Thomas McMahon of Brentwood, England, led a police-escorted prayer vigil outside a Marie Stopes abortion site in Buckhurst Hill on June 12.

More than 100 showed up to support the vigil, organized by the pro-life group Helpers of God's Precious Infants, the Epping Forest Guardian reported.

“The first victim of abortion is the unborn child whose life is ended deliberately,” Bishop McMahon said. “The mother, in a secondary sense, is also a victim, for she loses her child but is unable to grieve effectively.”