News,

Philip Nitschke, the Australian euthanasia campaigner, is travelling to Washington for the US premiere of a film depicting the suicide of a healthy woman who was inspired by him to end her life. Lisette Nigot, a 78-year-old French academic was not ill, in pain or depressed but wanted to die 'before it gets bad.' Dr Nitschke described it as a 'rational death.' Dr Nitschke's organisation Exit is developing a suicide pill that can be made using off-the-shelf ingredients. [Townhall, 10 June ] Ronald Reagan's article on abortion published in 1983 is being circulated following his recent death. In Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation, written to coincide with the 10th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, Mr Reagan wrote: "Our nationwide policy of abortion-on-demand through all the nine months of pregnancy was neither voted for by our people nor enacted by our legislators...Make no mistake, abortion-on-demand is not a right granted by the Constitution. No serious scholar, including one disposed to agree with the Court's result, has argued that the framers of the Constitution intended to create such a right." [National Review, 10 June ] The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has been promoting abortion under the guise of "user-friendly sexual and reproductive health services", C-Fam reports. The US withdrew its support for the declaration made at an ECLAC meeting in Chile because it would not accept language that could be "interpreted to constitute support, endorsement or promotion of abortion or abortion-related services or the use of abortifacients." An ECLAC meeting is now taking place in Mexico City, with another planned for the end of the month in Puerto Rico. [C-Fam, 11 June ] The BBC has once again banned the UK's ProLife Party's broadcast and only provided a link to the PLP's website after they were threatened with legal action. The ProLife Party fielded candidates in three regions for the European Elections. A party spokesman said in a press release: "The BBC has a serious duty of impartiality to the electorate and all political parties must be treated fairly." [LifeSite.com, 10 June ] Arab countries may ban all forms of human cloning within months, following a meeting of legal experts at the Arab League's headquarters in Cairo. A treaty, under which all Arab League member states would agree to ban all forms of human cloning, is being drafted and is expected to be finalised before the UN discusses a global treaty in September 2005. [Scidev.net, 9 June ] Japan's birth rate fell to a record low in 2003, dropping to 1.29 from 1.32 in 2002, according to government statistics. The birth rate in Tokyo was 0.9987. The unexpected decline may impact upon the government's plans for pension reforms as the birth rate was expected to remain stable and then to begin accelerating again. [Medical News Today, 10 June ]