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A vote by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on a pro-abortion report has been postponed, reportedly because of pro-life opposition. The report, by Christine McCafferty, the British veteran anti-life MP, was due to be debated and voted upon last Friday (2 October). The European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ), which opposes the report, said that Mrs McCafferty had asked for the delay. [John Smeaton, 3 October] http://is.gd/3Y0W1

The family of a woman who committed suicide are planning to sue the hospital which allowed her to die. Kerrie Wooltorton, 26, swallowed anti-freeze and presented a suicide note asking doctors not to save her life. The doctors followed her request, claiming that her wishes were legally binding. [Telegraph, 2 October] http://is.gd/3RIED

There were 182 recorded mistakes and near-misses in IVF centres, according to Britain's embryology regulator. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has issued a report detailing the incidents. The report covers incidents such as fertilisation of the wrong egg, the implantation of the wrong embryo or a patient's death. [Telegraph, 2 October] http://is.gd/3Y0az

Other stories

Abortion

• New SPUC leaflet against TV abortion ads [John Smeaton, 3 October] http://is.gd/3Y1kO
  
• Poll finds 42% of Americans don't know that Obama is pro-abortion [LifeNews.com, 1 October] http://is.gd/3Y0IJ Poll also shows support in US for legal abortions has dropped 11 percent from 2008-2009 [LifeNews.com, 1 October] http://is.gd/3Y1Fi
• 140th birthday of the late Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian civil rights leader who opposed abortion and contraception [John Smeaton, 2 October] http://is.gd/3Y1cF
  
• New morning-after pill launched in UK [Marie Stopes International via politics.co.uk, 1 October] http://is.gd/3RHGN
  

Embryology; stem cells

• Funding denied for human-animal hybrid research, UK researchers emigrating [Independent, 5 October] http://is.gd/3XXRE

Sexual health; teenage pregnancies

• Sexual health clinics to be set up in every Scottish secondary school [Times, 4 October] http://is.gd/3XYny
• European Humanist Federation launches attack on parents' "power" to protect their children [John Smeaton, 4 October] http://is.gd/3Y1sR
• Trial of male contraceptive injection in Scotland [Scottish Sun, 5 October] http://is.gd/3XXBr
• Glasgow school pupils to take part in sex ed forum [Evening Times, 1 October] http://is.gd/3RHX4

Maternal health and unborn health

• One-third of African women who die in childbirth could be saved if drug provided says medical journal [Guardian, 1 October] http://is.gd/3RIn4

Euthanasia and assisted suicide; disability

• Australian psychiatrist says suicidal patients with complex disorders can usually be healed [Sydney Morning Herald, 5 October] http://is.gd/3Y0rP
• Health secretary says Mental Capacity Act may be reviewed following Wooltorton suicide [Telegraph, 4 October] http://is.gd/3XYc8
• Irish bishops address suicide on day for life [Zenit, 4 October] http://is.gd/3XZDw
• Anglican clergyman George Pitcher writes again on the Wooltorton case [Telegraph, 2 October] http://is.gd/3Y00r
• Father of woman allowed to commit suicide demands law change [Daily Mail, 2 October] http://is.gd/3REL5 Daily Mail condemns Mental Capacity Act [Daily Mail, 2 October] http://is.gd/3REVg as does Dr Martin Scurr GP [Daily Mail, 2 October] http://is.gd/3RF8V Text of woman's suicide note regarded as legally binding living will [Sky, 1 October] http://is.gd/3RJxF SPUC press release [SPUC, 1 October] http://is.gd/3RJIy
• Soccer manager dissuades woman from suicide [Pontefract and Castleford Express, 2 October] http://is.gd/3RFqv
• Palliative care doctor condemns dehydration under Liverpool Care Pathway [Times, 2 October] http://is.gd/3RGay

General and miscellaneous

• Pope emphasises right to life in address to new US ambassador [Catholic News Agency, 2 October] http://is.gd/3XZxB
• Vatican secretary of state criticises EU on eve of Irish Lisbon referendum [Telegraph, 1 October] http://is.gd/3RGP1
• Remains of four infants discovered in Berlin home of suicide woman [Telegraph, 1 October] http://is.gd/3RHnV
• Obituary of John Wild, ultrasound pioneer [Guardian, 1 October] http://is.gd/3RGo9

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