Court to rule this month on state's abortion notification law
A Cook County Circuit Court judge said today that he will rule March 29 whether to dismiss a lawsuit that has halted the Illinois abortion notification law.
The 1995 law, which has been delayed in court and never enforced, would require doctors to notify a parent or guardian when a girl 17 or younger seeks an abortion.
In November, the Illinois medical disciplinary board decided the state could begin enforcing the law. Hours later, Judge Daniel Riley granted a temporary restraining order sought by the American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois. The state later filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit.
Lawyers for the ACLU have questioned whether the law violates the Illinois Constitution's guarantees of privacy and due process and the state constitutional ban on gender discrimination.
But Assistant Attorney General Thomas Ioppolo argued Monday that most surgical procedures on minors require parental input, and abortion should be no different.
Click here for the entire article from Chicago Breaking News.
The Girl Scouts and that Explicit Sex Guide: C-FAM Reaffirms Report
Last week the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute (C-Fam) issued a controversial report in its weekly Friday Fax, relating how Planned Parenthood was permitted to distribute an explicit 'sex guide' at a closed-door, no-adults-welcome meeting at the UN sponsored by the Girl Scouts.
C-Fam said in an update on the situation today that since the publication of that report, "We have been inundated with responses from Girl Scout moms, Girl Scout leaders and others angered and confused that such a thing could happen."
The Planned Parenthood guide told young girls that, "Many people think sex is just about vaginal or anal intercourse … But, there are lots of different ways to have sex and lots of different types of sex. There is no right or wrong way to have sex. Just have fun, explore and be yourself!"
Click here for the entire article from LifeSiteNews.
Florida Abortion Regulator: Unborn Child Bill Not Intended to Affect Abortion
State Sen. Mike Fasano is pushing legislation that would give legal rights to a fetus during any stage of a woman's pregnancy. He says the bill is not intended to affect a woman's right to have an abortion, but opponents disagree. Fasano's proposed legislation would change Florida's legal definition of "viable fetus" to "unborn child." Currently if someone kills a pregnant woman, in a car crash or by injuring the mother, the person can be charged separately with killing a viable fetus. That's defined as being able to live outside the womb with standard medical procedures.
Click here for the entire article from WTSP.
Court Orders Death for Unborn Child in Argentinean Rape Case
An unborn child has been killed by doctors in the province of Chubut, Argentina, following a protracted legal struggle to save its life, according to local reports.
The abortion took place on Friday despite last minute petitions filed with the provincial Supreme Court by the Corporation of Catholic Attorneys, and despite three earlier rulings against the deadly procedure.
The child, who was at 18 weeks of gestation, was allegedly conceived through the rape of its fifteen-year-old mother, who has accused her stepfather of being the culprit. The mother's name has not been made public by the Argentinian media.
Click here for the entire article from LifeSiteNews.
Threatened, arrested pro-lifers reach settlement
Two pro-life counselors' lawsuits against York, Pennsylvania, have been settled.
Edward Snell and John McTernan both stood in an alley behind a York abortion clinic where they handed out literature and tried to convince women not to have abortions. Attorney Randall Wenger of the Independence Law Center and Alliance Defense Fund reports that the men ran into frequent problems because police made up the rules as they went along.
"The police are paid for by Planned Parenthood," he explains. "They get paid more if there's an arrest, and the police end up coming with a lot of stupid restrictions that keep [pro-lifers] from using the public spaces and sharing their concerns about abortion."
One of Wenger's clients was threatened with arrest while the other was actually taken into custody. The case was taken to the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
Click here for the entire article from OneNewsNow.
Development & Peace South African Partner Freely Admits Abortion Advocacy
The director and another employee of a South African partner of the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace (D&P) have both freely admitted in a telephone interview and an e-mail sent to LifeSiteNews.com (LSN) that their organization actively advocates in favor of "abortion rights," including sitting on the steering committee of the Reproductive Rights Alliance, which pushes for expanded access to legal abortion in the country.
D&P is the Canadian Catholic bishops' official development arm, which has been fraught with controversy after it was revealed last spring that they are funding dozens of groups that advocate in favor of abortion and/or contraception. To date, however, D&P's response has been to consistently and vociferously deny the allegations about its partners' pro-abortion activities.
But according to Leonard Gentle, the director of the Industrial Labour Research and Information Group (ILRIG), a South Africa-based D&P partner, the work of his organization includes offering support to the "abortion rights" movement.
Click here for the entire article from LifeSiteNews.
