Miracle Baby Grew in Liver

BBC NEWS, May 23 — A South African baby has survived after developing in her mother's liver instead of in her womb. The baby, Nhlahla, whose name means “luck” in Zulu, is only the fourth baby ever to survive such a pregnancy. In all, there have only been 14 documented cases of a child developing in this way.

Nhlahla was born after specialists performed a difficult operation to deliver her. She had to be put on oxygen after her birth but was breathing without aid within two days.

Doctors said Nhlahla and her mother, Ncise Cwayita, were both doing well.

As an embryo, Nhlahla must have implanted in the fallopian tube and fallen out, implanting in the liver, which is a rich source of blood.

Contraception Aborted

BBC NEWS, May 24 — Boldly defending unborn life, Argentine Judge Cristina Garzon de Lascano has ruled that oral contraceptives and intrauterine devices are “abortive” and banned their production and sale. She has also ordered the destruction of existing supplies. Abortion is illegal in Argentina and can be punishable by prison.

The Argentine health minister attacked the decision as “absurd,” saying it went against international norms.

In 2001, the same judge defended life when she banned the so-called “morning-after pill.”

Baby Survives Illegal Abortion

THE VALDOSTA DAILY TIMES, May 21 — Despite being born prematurely after his mother tried to have him aborted illegally, a baby born in Valdosta, Ga., is alive in a Florida hospital's critical care unit.

The baby's mother was 30 weeks pregnant. On May 9 she paid an obstetrician, Dr. Charles Rossmann, for an abortion. Rossmann apparently induced labor and left the woman all alone in the office. She delivered her son and then called 911.

Police have tried to serve a warrant on a charge of criminal abortion to Rossmann, but he cannot be found. Georgia law states that a third-trimester abortion may only be done when the mother's health is at risk.

UNFPA Takes a Hit on the Hill

CATHOLIC FAMILY & HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTE, May 22 — The U.N. Population Fund tried to halt pro-life ads from running in an influential political publication, but pro-life forces have prevailed.

In April a global coalition of pro-life and pro-family groups sponsored advertisements in CQ Today, the daily news brief published by Congressional Quarterly. The ads detail the population fund's involvement in coercive population-control programs in the developing world.

In a letter to CQ Today, the fund challenged the claims in the ads and called on CQ to print a retraction. The publication refused to do so when its legal advisers determined that the charges laid out against the fund in the ad had been sufficiently substantiated.