10 May 2005

News,

A member of the Scottish Parliament has criticised doctors who prescribe the birth control pill and give contraceptive advice to girls under the age of 13. Shona Robison MSP said: "There could be child abuse situations going on and adult men could be preying on these girls." However, Ms Robison does support giving 'good quality information' on birth control to children between 13 and 16. [The Courier, 10 May] A coroner has concluded that hospital staff could not have done anything further to assist a severely disabled baby boy in their care and that he died of natural causes, The Times of London reports. Last year, a High Court ruling permitted medical staff to withhold life-saving treatment from Luke Winston-Jones, a ten-month-old boy who had Edwards' Syndrome. Ruth Winston-Jones told the coroner that she pleaded with medical staff to administer adrenaline as he had responded to it before but they refused. [The Times, 10 May] Iran has rejected a bill that would have permitted abortion in case of disability. The Guardian Council stated: "Abortion is against Islamic Shari'a law in cases where the child would cause difficulties for his parents after birth due to mental or physical handicap." [The Courier Mail, 10 May] A documentary on the life of Gianna Beretta Molla has been released to commemorate the first anniversary of her canonisation. Gianna died on 21 April 1962 after she chose to save the life of her unborn child. [Zenit, 8 May] The president of the Indian Medical Association has called for India to adopt a one-child policy similar to China's. A number of states already use coercive methods to prevent large families, such as the withholding of government jobs, benefits and subsidies if couples have more than three children. Ashish Bose, a demographer, disagrees with coercive population control. He said: "In a democracy when people want employment, drinking water and literacy, one cannot distribute contraceptives and ask them to solve the population first." [Bioedge, 10 May]

To subscribe to SPUC's email information services, please visit www.spuc.org.uk/em-signup. The reliability of the news herein is dependent on that of the cited sources, which are paraphrased rather than quoted. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the society. © Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, 2018

10 May 2005

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