Michael Schiavo, who allowed his terminally ill wife Terri to be starved to death, has admitted that his book about her was written to "settle some scores" with her family. "Terri: The Truth" was written by military historian Michael Hirsh on behalf of Michael Schiavo. In an interview with NBC News, Mr Schiavo agreed that the book was not written primarily to honour Terri's memory. [Life News, 23 March] A psychiatrist has written about her concerns that Terri may have been abused by her husband. Dr Carole Lieberman identified several ways in which Michael Schiavo behaved as an abusive husband such as verbally abusing his wife in public, attempting to control her finances and attacking her sister in an argument. She said: "As a psychiatric expert witness, I have had experience performing psychiatric examinations of men like Michael Schiavo, and testifying in court about similar cases. The above is simply meant to illustrate some of the indications that Michael fits the profile of an abusive husband. He should most definitely be investigated as the perpetrator of the 'incident' that caused Terri's collapse." [North Country Gazette, 21 March]
Every school in England is to have a birth control nurse, according to new government guidelines. The Department for Education and the Department of Health have unveiled plans to place nurses in all primary and secondary schools who will be able to "provide contraceptive advice to pupils and emergency contraception and pregnancy testing to young women". Nurses are also expected to help girls to arrange abortions and should be aware of "confidentiality issues". This means that schoolgirls will be able to be given the morning after pill and undergo abortions without their parents' knowledge. [Daily Mail, 24 March] Paul Tully, General Secretary of SPUC commented: "SPUC has recently attacked the government for turning schools in abortion-advice centres. This initiative renews the attack on families and innocent children. The blatant promotion of secret abortion and abortion-inducing birth control in schools is an abuse of the educational system, an abuse of responsible parents, and an abuse of children - both schoolchildren and the unborn."
Australian MPs are calling for a free conscience vote on stem cell and cloning legislation. The cabinet is expected to debate human cloning and embryonic stem cell research in the next month, following the results of a review led by former Federal Court justice John Lockhart which endorsed embryonic stem cell research. The report was criticised by Santo Santoro, the Minister for Ageing, who has in turn been slated by embryologist Elizabeth Finkel. A previous conscience vote on cloning in 2002 divided MPs. Senator Ron Boswell, who opposes cloning, said: "There would have to be a conscience vote," and Senator Mal Washer, pro-cloning, also said he thought there would be a conscience vote. [The Age, 23 March]
The President of Malta is to unveil a monument to the unborn child on March 25th, the feast of the Annunciation, which many Catholic countries celebrate as an annual pro-life day. His Excellency Dr. Edward Fenech Adami is continuing to uphold the country's pro-life legislation, under which abortion is illegal, despite pressure from the United Nations and the European Union. [Life Site, 21 March]
A Chinese woman has been executed for trafficking 31 babies. Lin Yudi, 49, was part of a gang who kidnapped and sold baby boys to couples in north China whose traditional desire for sons rather than daughters has been heightened by the country's one-child policy. Human trafficking is widespread in China according to the UN Children's Fund, which says that 250,000 Chinese women and children were trafficked in 2003. [The Australian, 24 March]