News,

A British couple are said to have used barbiturates to kill themselves with the help of a pro-euthanasia organisation in a flat in Switzerland at the beginning of this month. Mr Robert Stokes, 59, who had epilepsy, and Mrs Jennifer Stokes, 53, who suffered from diabetes and back problems, travelled to Zurich from a Bedfordshire home for retired people and are said to have arranged their funeral. Mrs Stokes's sister is quoted as remarking that, while the couple were both ill, they were not dying. A county coroner has adjourned inquests on the deaths. Merseyside police last week decided not to prosecute Mrs Wyn Crew who in January accompanied Mr Reginald Crew, her husband, to Zurich where the same organisation helped him kill himself. [BBC, 15 April]


Women seeking abortions in Minnesota will have to wait 24 hours and will be told about the child's gestational age, the pain the baby could feel, and the relative risks to mothers of abortion and childbirth. Governor Tim Pawlenty approved a bill within hours of receiving it from the senate, saying it was moderate and reasonable. The law, which took nine years to pass, comes into effect on 1 July. Minnesota will be the 19th US state to have such a waiting-period. [Guardian, 15 April]


Children could inherit drink-problems from mothers who consume alcohol in pregnancy, according a study by Washington university in the western USA. The research suggests that, if pregnant women take five or more drinks in one or more sessions, their offspring are three times more likely to have alcohol problems at 21. One third of women surveyed took at least five drinks in one session during pregnancy and they tended to be educated, white and middle-class. The university's Mr John Baer suggested that women should not drink alcohol in pregnancy. [Archives of General Psychiatry, April, in Telegraph, 15 April]


Health authorities in England's west midlands have set a target to stop some 40 pregnant women from smoking as part of a campaign which will include the appointment of an advisor on smoking in pregnancy. Two health trusts in Dudley are giving £30,000 to a year-long initiative which aims also to discourage other types of smoking. [Express & Star, 15 April] Smoking in pregnancy can harm unborn children.


St Jerome's Catholic university, Ontario, will next month host an event in honour of the late Mr Pierre Trudeau who, as Canadian prime minister, legalised abortion in 1969. Mr John Turner, another former prime minister who helped Mr Trudeau legalise abortion, will address the conference. A publication called The Catholic Register, probably the Ontario-based newspaper of that name, is co-sponsoring the event with St Jerome's. [LifeSite, 14 April]

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