Florida: No Suicide Concert

THE BRAEDENTON HERALD (Florida), April 25 — Suicide is not a form of entertainment, the Florida Senate has ruled.

A proposed bill to ban suicide as public entertainment passed the Senate 39-0 on April 24, a response to the band Hell on Earth, which attempted to feature a suicide at a live concert last year, the newspaper reported.

The bill would make it a third-degree felony to promote such an event, with violators facing five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.

While the band never delivered on its promise to feature the suicide as a statement in support of euthanasia, the paper said, its action prompted the St. Petersburg Council to pass an emergency order banning it.

Public's Right to Know

CYBERCAST NEWS SERVICE, April 28 — The Coalition for Life says it wants to let the public know who is footing the bill for Planned Parenthood's Texas operations.

The Texas-based pro-life coalition sent more than 300 letters to businesses, government agencies and foundations that support Planned Parenthood's Houston-based operations, the news service reported. The letters ask the groups to stop funding the pro-abortion organization.

The coalition said it planned to release the names of organizations that fund Planned Parenthood at two public press events and on its website May 8.

Pro-Life T-Shirt Controversy

RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH (Virginia), April 30 — Rock for Life is protesting a principal's decision to ban Spotsylvania County, Va., middle-school students from wearing pro-life T-shirts at school April 27.

A student was ordered to remove her shirt the day Rock for Life, an arm of the American Life League, designated National Pro-Life T-Shirt Day, the newspaper reported.

Students were asked to remove them after debates about abortion broke out in class.

Rock for Life has encouraged students to contact the Thomas More Law Center, which takes cases regarding religious rights and free speech.

’Not Medically Necessary’

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS, May 2 — A federal appellate court has ruled that because it wasn't medically necessary, medical workers at a Louisiana prison were correct in denying an inmate an abortion.

The court also said in its April 30 decision that the prison's policy to make the inmate obtain a court order for the elective procedure was reasonable, the wire service reported.

The woman learned of her pregnancy upon incarceration in 1999 after her probation was revoked. Her lawyer filed for her early release so she could obtain the abortion, but she would have to pay for it herself, which she said she could not afford.

She was released in October 1999, too late for her to undergo an abortion under state law. She carried the baby to term and gave it up for adoption.