News,

• The US Senate's judiciary committee has approved the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. She now awaits confirmation by the full Senate. Pro-life groups have opposed her nomination. [LifeSiteNews.com, 28 July] http://is.gd/1Sk27
• The Women on Waves abortion boat has been decommissioned [LifeSiteNews.com, 28 July] http://is.gd/1Sh5G
• Pro-abortion group claims 25% fall in abortion providers in US since the 1990s [UPI, 23 July] http://is.gd/1RpnW
• A Turkish study has found women who have had abortions have a 66% increased risk of breast cancer [ProLifeBlogs.com, 28 July] http://is.gd/1SklP
• The Irish Medical Times has starting publishing advertisements for Marie Stopes International, one of the world's main abortion providers. Pat Buckley - European Life Network urges people to write to the editor to protest [Pat Buckley - European Life Network, 28 July] http://is.gd/1Sjui
• The president of Spain's Catholic bishops conference has said that the proposed law for wider access to abortion is unconstitutional [Catholic News Agency, 28 July] http://is.gd/1SmeY
• A woman who was eight months pregnant has been killed and her unborn child removed from her womb. The suspect and the unborn child are missing. [Channel 4, 29 July] http://is.gd/1Sj7e

• Treatments in Germany involving adult stem cells will be more closely regulated after revision of Germany's medical products law [British Medical Journal, 28 July] http://is.gd/1RvvT

• The first British gay couple to father a surrogate baby in the UK. The surrogate mother was one of the men's sister, using the other man's sperm [Daily Mail, 28 July] http://is.gd/1SlVL
• Op-ed by columnist Allison Pearson condemning the trend of elderly IVF mothers. She alleges that IVF drugs lead to cancer, and says women should have children early, before age can cause complications. [Daily Mail, 17 July] http://is.gd/1Rqty

• John Smeaton, SPUC director comments on a report that population control is being relaxed in Shanghai, China [SPUC director's blog, 28 July] http://is.gd/1SlAf

• The number of Scottish cases of sexually transmitted infections has almost doubled in a decade [STV, 28 July] http://is.gd/1Rvnc Scottish doctors' leaders call for better sex education in schools in response [Herald, 29 July] http://is.gd/1Si7b
• Survey of young people about sexual health by UNICEF and Terenece Higgins Trust [Medical News Today, 27 July] http://is.gd/1RtOj
• Study into relationship between teen pregnancy and emotional distress [Medical News Today, 27 July] http://is.gd/1RtC8

• The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has pledged 41 million US dollars (28.7 million euro/£24.8 million) to Concern, an Irish aid agency, for maternal and newborn health [Channel 4, 28 July] http://is.gd/1RvJa
• Woman's suicide attributed to post-natal depression and pressure of juggling work and motherhood [Guardian, 28 July] http://is.gd/1Rvgz
• A baby has been born allegedly with two heads in Manila, Philippines. The Telegraph says that there have been similar cases in Manila in the past [Telegraph, 29 July] http://is.gd/1SiWq

• A pro-euthanasia campaigner and doctor has asked to be prosecuted after paying for a patient to travel to Switzerland for an assisted suicide [Evening Standard, 28 July] http://is.gd/1Skzx
• Letters in The (Scottish) Herald about assisted suicide, including a protest against the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) decision to adopt neutrality by the RCN Palliative Nursing Forum [Herald, 29 July] http://is.gd/1ShOi
• Letters in The Times about assisted suicide: from daughter of woman who committed suicide, from a nurse about the RCN decision, and from a pro-euthanasia professor. [Times, 29 July] http://is.gd/1RujM
• The Nursing and Midwifery Council have warned nurses that assisting suicide remains illegal [Medical News Today, 28 July] http://is.gd/1Snbj
• Op-ed by Richard Morrison against assisted suicide. He says that British society should be improving the quality of life of ill and elderly people rather than changing the law to allow assisted suicide. [Times, 29 July] http://is.gd/1Sim5
• Another Times op-ed on assisted suicide. Melanie Reid says that assisted suicide should be legalised in order to prevent botched suicide attempts [Times, 29 July] http://is.gd/1Sivb
• Op-ed in The Irish Examiner against assisted suicide. Stephen King says that "Bearing each other's burdens is what socialises us, what makes us human." [Irish Examiner, 29 July] http://is.gd/1SiNq
• TV advert about motor neurone disease banned for being too distressing [Telegraph, 25 July] http://is.gd/1RtWV
• The mayor of the English city of Middlesborough is supporting a drive to get more local people signing up to the organ donor register [Gazette Live, 28 July] http://is.gd/1Rwi3

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