Half of all under-age pregnancies in England and Wales now end in abortion, latest figures show. Figures for 2008 show that there were over 20,000 abortions among females under 18. Ann Furedi of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) commented: "The fact that teenagers felt able to end their pregnancy in abortion is actually a positive sign." [Daily Mail, 11 May] John Smeaton, SPUC director, responded: "Abortion [is] a truly inhuman way to...solve human problems. Let's put human compassion at the heart of our response to the needs of women instead." [SPUC director's blog]
A senior American archbishop and Vatican official has delivered a strongly pro-life address at a high-profile event. Speaking at the annual National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, Archbishop Raymong Burke warned that "if our nation [America] continues down the path it has taken, healthcare institutions operating in accord with the natural moral law, which teaches us that innocent human life is to be protected and fostered at all times and that it is always and everywhere evil to destroy an innocent human life, will be forced to close their doors." [LifeSite, 8 May]
An Australian pro-euthanasia campaigner says that elderly liberal people are campaigning to legalise assisted suicide. Dr Philip Nitschke told a Scottish newspaper that "The baby boomers are the same people who fought for women's rights, fertility control and the like, and they are now getting to the age where the issue is end-of-life choices." [Sunday Herald, 10 May] Pro-life campaigners have frequently pointed out the link between the decriminalisation of abortion in the 1960s and 1970s and the push for euthanasia and assisted suicide.
Inconsistency remains in the provision of state-funded IVF throughout the UK, according to new research. Data studied by Infertility Network UK revealed that IVF provision in Scotland is high, but much lower in most of the rest of the UK. [Independent, 11 May] IVF routinely entails the abuse and death of thousands of embryonic children every year.