News,

David Burrowes MP has presented the 2009 Robin McNair Prize in the Houses of Parliament. Student-contestants wrote essays on bioethical issues including abortion, human embryos and the rights of the disabled. The Robin McNair Prize commemorates one of Britain's leading fighter pilots in the Second World War. After the war Squadron Leader Robin McNair fought for the rights of the unborn through his membership of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC). The prize competition is jointly sponsored by the SPUC Educational Research Trust and the McNair family. 150 entries were received from more than thirty schools. A full report of the prize-giving event can be seen at http://www.spuc.org.uk/students/mcnair/2009

Abortion

• US bishops launch massive effort to keep abortion out of health legislation. [Catholic Culture, 12 January] http://is.gd/6kl2e
• Austria approves over-the-counter morning-after pill. [LifeSiteNews.com, 12 January]

Embryology

• Scientists turn stem cells into pork. [AP, 15 January] http://is.gd/6kcuR
• Poor reporting of embryo research leads to skewed debate. [Luke Coppen, 15 January] http://is.gd/6kd8U
• 100 Polish scientists condemn in vitro fertilization. [LifeSiteNews.com, 11 January] http://is.gd/6kify

Euthanasia

• Legislature in American state of New Hampshire votes against assisted suicide. [Wesley J. Smith, 13 January] http://is.gd/6kkIo
• Final Exit network activist pleads guilty to killing woman in assisted suicide. [LifeNews.com, 12 January] http://is.gd/6kfpi

Population

• China faces 24 million bride shortage by 2020 due to one-child policy. [CNN, 11 January] http://is.gd/6kc7f

Sexual ethics

• Liberal Democrat leader says faith schools must be forced to teach that homosexuality is "normal and harmless". [John Smeaton, 14 January] http://is.gd/6fXsU
• Legal consultant to Vatican denounces US safe-schools czar. [LifeSiteNews.com, 14 January] http://is.gd/6kduY
• Pope Benedict ushers into Catholic Church pro-Humanae Vitae Anglicans. [John Smeaton, 12 January] http://is.gd/69wQT

General

• March for life in Paris this Sunday. [Pat Buckley, 15 January] http://is.gd/6kb5t
• Council of Europe to debate two anti-life/anti-family resolutions. [Pat Buckley, 14 January] http://is.gd/6kbDl

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