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This Thursday (22 Oct) the European Parliament will vote on amendments, supported by SPUC, against coercive and sex-selective abortion. Please contact your MEPs immediately to urge them to support the amendments [SPUC campaign alert, 19 October] http://is.gd/4rfRP

Pro-lifers held a massive rally in Madrid, the Spanish capital, on Saturday to protest against a government's bill to expand abortion. Estimates of the size of the rally vary. The regional government and the BBC http://is.gd/4qFdJ estimated the crowd to be over a million. The rally's theme was "Every life matters". [Fr Tim Finigan, 18 October] http://is.gd/4qdVS

Researchers have made a breakthrough in the development of ethically-created stem cells. Scientists from the Scripps Research Institute in America used chemicals to speed up the process of creating induced pluripotency stem (iPS) cells. iPS cells are human cells modified to have properties similar to embryonic stem cells. [BBC, 18 October] http://is.gd/4qfg9

Relatives of elderly patients who died in suspicious circumstances at a hospital in Gosport, England, have called for a new criminal investigation. The relatives have given prosecutors a dossier, calling for charges against Jane Barton, a doctor at the hospital. Medication prescribed by Dr Barton is alleged to have contributed to the patient's deaths. [Portsmouth News, 17 October] http://is.gd/4qfyA

Other stories

Abortion

• Abortions fell in US between years 1990 and 2005, official stats show [LifeNews.com, 15 October] http://is.gd/4qeoK
• Catholic archbishop of Denver says pro-aborts will have to account to God [Catholic News Agency, 16 October] http://is.gd/4qeUQ
• Catholic bishop of Pittsburgh, US condemns anti-life evils [Catholic Culture, 16 October] http://is.gd/4qez7

Embryology; fertility treatment; stem cells

• Claims new embryo test doubles pregnancy chance; also detects Down's [Daily Mail, 19 October] http://is.gd/4qeeB
• Many couples wasting money on IVF, should give up earlier, says study [Telegraph, 17 October] http://is.gd/4qf3y

Maternal health and unborn health

• Cancer treatment during pregnancy need not risk baby's health, finds study [Medical News Today, 18 October] http://is.gd/4qfpv

Euthanasia and assisted suicide; disability

• Government cancer tsar responds to concerns about Liverpool Care Pathway [Telegraph, 17 October] http://is.gd/4qeFn
• Sir Ludovic Kennedy, the pro-euthanasia campaigner, has died [John Smeaton, 19 October] http://is.gd/4qU4F
  

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