News,

The archbishop-elect of Westminster has been quoted as saying that abortion is "always an evil", even in the case of rape-victims and pregnant 12-year-olds. Bishop Cormac Murphy-O'Connor said he also felt compassion for people facing difficulties. [The Herald and Metro, ] Members of the US Senate will probably vote next month on Representative Charles Canady's Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act. Senators passed the same bill 63-34 last year but President Clinton vetoed it. This type of abortion procedure involves the baby's being partially delivered and then having scissors pushed into the base of his or her neck, and having his or her brain sucked out. The chairman of the House of Commons pharmacy group is expected to call on the British government to allow the morning-after pill to be supplied without prescription. In Scotland women are being encouraged to get a prescription for the morning-after pill to keep in case they need it one day. [The Independent, 20 February, 2000] More than two fifths of those who voted in Saturday's South Carolina presidential primary election believe abortion is the key campaign issue. [The Guardian, ] A woman who narrowly avoided dying from a blood clot on the brain wants women considering taking the contraceptive pill to be warned of the dangers. Mrs Tracey Barkess of County Durham, England, was only saved from death by a hole in her heart which meant that the clot caused a stroke instead. Mrs Barkess' family blame the pill for the clot since she was on no other medication. [Northern Echo, February 2000] This bulletin is privately circulated by the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, www.spuc.org.uk, 5/6 St Matthew Street, London, United Kingdom, SW1P 2JT, +44 20 7222 3763. The reliability of the news herein is dependent on that of the cited sources. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the society. Please forward this bulletin to other interested parties. To unsubscribe, send an appropriate email to information@spuc.freeserve.co.uk