News,

A Northern Ireland councillor has attacked a sex poster campaign by the Health Promotion Agency which includes pictures of semi-naked men and women and photographs of pubic sores. Cllr Roy Gillespie said: "It's verging on pornographic. I appreciate that the Health Promotion Agency has a job to do but no right-thinking business should display these in a public place." Dr Brian Gaffney, Chief Executive of the agency defended the campaign, saying that it had been 'very carefully researched.' He added that many of the posters had gone missing, which he put down to people taking them to display at home. [Ballymena Times, 28 May ] Dr Philip Nitschke, the Australian euthanasia campaigner, plans to set up a base in North America so that he can continue his Internet campaign to teach people how to commit suicide. The Australian federal government has drafted a bill that would prevent the use of the Internet for criminal activities, ranging from child pornography to material that "directly or indirectly, promotes, counsels, or incites suicide, or provides instruction on how to commit suicide." Nitschke believes he is being specifically targeted and takes exception to the fact that child pornography and euthanasia are being dealt with in the same bill, claiming that it is an attempt "to discredit the voluntary euthanasia movement." [CNSNews, 27 May ] Three New Zealand teenagers have been jailed for trying to kill an unborn baby, News 24 reports. Shaun Williams-Metcalf, 16, took friends Geoffrey Ruaporo and Kyle Donovan to a park where they attacked his ex-girlfriend, kicking her in the stomach in an attempt to cause her to miscarry. The three pleaded guilty to attempting to procure an abortion, aggravated robbery and inflicting injury with intent. The woman, who cannot be named, later gave birth to a baby girl. [News24, 27 May ] A Ugandan MP has called for the government to legalise abortion, All Africa reports. Sylvia Ssinabulya MP, who is also an executive member of Uganda's Family Planning Association, used the plight of women raped in war zones to press her case, saying that abortions should be allowed before 12 weeks so that: "At that stage one can't be called a murderer." [Allafrica.com, 27 May ] An Illinois county health department has settled a lawsuit filed by a former secretary who said that she was denied a promotion because of her opposition to abortion. Francis J. Manion, Senio Counsel of the American Centre for Law and Justice which represented Faith Moncivaiz, welcomed the $40,000 out-of-court settlement, stating: "Public and private employers need to know that pro-life employees enjoy legal protection under existing federal and state laws." The department did not accept liability as part of the settlement. [Lifenews.com, 27 May ]