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Top stories:

UN ratchets up campaign to impose abortion worldwide

A new UN report which demands that every country in the world removes all legal and practical restrictions on abortion and contraception has been debated. The report was presented by Anand Grover, the UN special rapporteur on health, at the UN in New York on Monday. Fr Bene, the Holy See's representative, spoke out strongly against one of the report's most sinister aspects. He said: "The proposal of the Special Rapporteur to circumvent spousal and/or parental consent for the implementation of contraceptive and sterilizing techniques stands in stark contravention of the very nature of marriage and parenthood." [John Smeaton, 26 October] http://goo.gl/cMVg4

Teenage boyfriend's punch killed unborn boy, court hears

A British teenager has been charged with child destruction after punching his pregnant girlfriend. The unborn boy, later named Taylor,  was seven months' old. [Metro, 26 October] http://goo.gl/20rVt Anthony Ozimic of SPUC commented: "It is anomalous that an isolated act of child destruction is prosecuted whilst hundreds of other acts of child destruction are committed every day through abortion with the full backing of the law and the state." 

May Fr Vincent Melia, SPUC campaigner, rest in peace

Marileine Ollerenshaw of SPUC's north-east England region reports the following sad news: "Father Vincent Melia, from St. Matthew, Ponteland, passed away last night. His body will be received into the church on Sunday evening and his funeral will be on Monday. Father Melia has been, for as long as I can remember, a strong supporter of SPUC and was, till recently, the chairman of the Ponteland branch. He kept encouraging people of all faiths and none to help the unborn and all those who have no voice. He will be sadly missed in the pro-life movement." [John Smeaton, 26 October] http://goo.gl/kuxQB

Other stories:

Euthanasia

• Scottish parliamentarian prepares new assisted suicide bill [Scotsman, 26 October]

Population

• Chinese parents given privileges if they follow one-child policy [Guardian, 25 October] http://goo.gl/JA4yk
• China's one-child policy still enforced with heavy-handed tactics [Guardian, 25 October] http://goo.gl/5Fp7C
• New Haiti PM is former population control official [Guardian, 25 October] http://goo.gl/CRC7S
• Likelihood of global population decline examined [Reuters, 24 October] http://goo.gl/zCUF0

Sexual ethics

• School sex videos "horrify parents" says UK MP [Northampton Chronicle, 26 October] http://goo.gl/ujIn7
• Brazil's Supreme Appeals Court rule that lesbian pair can legally marry [Pink Paper, 26 October] http://goo.gl/euTBw
• Parents, teachers divided over condom initiative in Rwanda [AlertNet, 24 October] http://goo.gl/jjPou

General

• Having children decreases risk of ovarian cancer, suggests UK study [Mail, 26 October] http://goo.gl/YZ5hy

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