International Right to Life Federation, Inc.
Vol. 12 No. 3
(May/June 2001)

Italy - More Friendly
The new government in Italy is proposing legislation that would include subsidies and family therapy for women who choose to carry to term rather than abort. It would also require a minor to secure her partner's consent in order to have an abortion, this under the newly elected premier Sylvio Berlusconi.

Cytotec Produces Deformities
In the American Journal of Medical Genetics, 95 [2000]: (297-301.), medical researchers have reported on infants whose mothers took Cytotec (Misoprostol) in an attempt to produce a chemical abortion. The attempt failed and the babies went to term and were delivered. Quoting from the paper: "The most striking manifestations common to the patients were growth retardation, underdeveloped bones, short equinovarus feet, rigidity of multiple joints with skin dimples and webs, decreased movement of legs, hypoplasia or atrophy of limb muscles, and absent tendon reflexes." In the past, other reports resultant from such exposure have noted cranial nerve deficiency, microcephalus, delayed motor and mental development, hydrocephaly and the Mobius anomaly.

Vietnam Abortions
Vietnam abortions equaled 50.3% of the number of babies born in the year 2000, this according to the trade union newspaper, Lao Dong. Officials declared that this was far too high a percentage, but nevertheless were pleased that it had dropped from 64% in 1999. The total number of abortions listed in 2000 was 679,000 abortions.

French Suicide
It really doesn't make any sense. The French birthrate is well below replacement level. Increasingly, immigrants are being brought into the country to perform work that needs doing but for which there are no French citizens. The French government is now giving bonuses for extra children and encouraging larger families in other ways, but they maintain legal abortion. In the face of this national demographic catastrophe, their parliament has now just voted, with almost no debate, to allow abortions to be performed, not only until 10, but now until 12 weeks. This law also says that if a person interferes with an abortion that it's now a criminal offense. Furthermore, it removed a requirement for minors to obtain parental consent. The minor now can choose any adult with whom to consult. Clearly, this will result in an increased number of abortions in France, which is going to mean fewer French boys and girls, which is going to hasten the death of that nation.---- How stupid.

An Interesting Reason
Sri Lankan Prime Minister has said that his country should abandon its family planning policy and start thinking "bigger is better." The reason is that the old policy has "slashed" the number of potential recruits for his army. He said, "We would have the extra 10,000 troops needed to finish off the ethnic war if it had not been for family planning." Yes, this is a very interesting reason.

Children's U.N. Prepcomm
The latest U.N. conference in New York was a prepcomm for the World Summit on Children to be held there this fall. In early June, delegates came together to hammer out language on the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child. This is an international treaty and should have been largely non-controversial. Not unexpectedly, and true to their previous activities, the international pro-abortion forces attempted to insert into the language, words that would guarantee the right of a child to abort, over a parent's objections, from age 10, the right to have access to contraceptive and abortive family planning, to pornography, and would also foster the acceptance of homosexual lifestyles. As usual, the pro-abortion forces did not admit what they hoped to insert but were using clever language to disguise their efforts. But then, at the prodding of the new delegation appointed by President Bush, a member of the strongly pro-abortion Canadian delegation admitted that the suggested wording in the document calling for children's access to "reproductive health services", made a startling statement considering the past history of these discussions. The Canadian delegate replied to the Bush delegate with exasperation, saying, "The distinguished delegate of the U.S. knows that of course - 'services' includes abortion." This stunning admission prompted a heated debate. The language was struck, and also as a result, similar language was deleted from other places in the document.
This dramatic change was a direct result of the changes in the U.S. delegation. For the past eight years the Clinton delegates have pushed a totally immoral, amoral, family destroying agenda. Now suddenly, the U.S. delegation is on the side of pro-life, pro-family values. This promises to make a significant difference.

Amniocentesis Kills Babies
Researchers at St. Bartholomew's Medical School in London analyzed 40,000 women who had amniocentesis. Of these, 100 cases of Down's syndrome were diagnosed but 400 additional normal babies died as a direct result of the invasive test. London's Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child has called for an end to "all such search and destroy missions."

Ultrasound Machines Cheap
The Washington Post has reported (29 May-2001) that the ultrasound technique first appeared in China in the mid 1980's, and now "Chinese manufacturers churn out thousands of machines each year for less than $2,000 each." It states that every county has an ultrasound machine, and even some townships. With abortion not just available but compulsory for the second child, the need for a boy-child is paramount, as there is no social security from the government, and aging parents need a son to care for them. Figures released this year reveal that, compared to the international average of 105 boys to 100 girls, China now has 117 for every 100 girls, and "in heavily rural areas, there are nearly 140 boys for every 100 girls." Further, to exacerbate the situation, "If the son is sick, families in the countryside will get a doctor. If a girl is sick, they won't."

International RTL Fed. Board

Warsaw, Poland, 21 May, 2001
Back Row
Lech Kowalewski (East Europe), Lee LaHaye (U.S.A.), Amid Abboud (Australia), Talmir Rodriguez (Brazil), Jim Hughes (Canada)
Front Row
Hariet D'Su (India), J.C. Willke, M.D., (President, U.S.A.), Phyllis Bowman (Great Britain), Bert Dorenbos (The Netherlands)

South Africa Planned Parenthood
Planned Parenthood Association of South Africa is faced with losing U.S. federal aid amounting to about one-fourth of its annual budget, this because of the new Mexico City policy announced by President George Bush. This blocks any American funding for organizations which promote or provide abortions. This Planned Parenthood Association has decided not to stop pushing for abortions and, accordingly, will lose this U.S. aid.

Abortifacient Pill Not Safe?
A letter published in the British Medical Journal, Lancet, stated that the World Health Organization's much publicized trial of the so-called emergency contraception pill was unreliable. It noted that the sample used was of only 100 women. They took the pills only once. One of them died of meningitis. Twenty-one "were lost to follow-up." This, according to the SPUC News Digest of 25 April. If these facts are correct, it is clear that the study was essentially meaningless.

Kazakstan Worried
There are over 300,000 abortions a year in this former Soviet state. Many blame this high abortion rate, which is used for birth control, on the nation's poverty. Residents are calling for laws to tighten up the permissive abortion law.

March for Life
On January 22nd every year, a major March for Life is held in Washington, D.C. Originating near the White House, the marchers go up Pennsylvania Ave. to terminate at the Supreme Court. They then go into the House and Senate office buildings to visit their elected officials. How many march? The District of Columbia police no longer give estimates, but the January 2001 March was a big one. The line of march was tight. Pro-lifers marched toe to heel and shoulder to shoulder along the eight-lane avenue. The mile-and-a-quarter March for Life lasted about three hours. The estimate of numbers was 225,000 people. This is a number to remember. Two hundred and twenty-five thousand people, on a cold winter day, traveled to Washington, D.C. to witness for the lives of the unborn.

Europe - Irish Referendum
A member of European parliament, Dana Scallon, urged her Irish countrymen to not approve the Treaty of Nice. She warned them that, while paving the way for the enlargement of the European Union and including Ireland in it, this could lead to the legalization of abortion and a situation where larger countries could control the policy decisions of smaller countries like Ireland.
Apparently Irish voters were listening. In their recent referendum, the treaty was rejected.

Canada - Emergency Abortion Pill
The College of Pharmacists of British Columbia has issued an informal consent form for taking the above pill. It stated that "emergency contraceptive" pills work by… and it mentioned three mechanisms. So far, so good. But then it stated that "If you are already pregnant, ECP's will not stop or interfere with the pregnancy." As we have said before, this is biologically incorrect. A human life begins at the first cell stage, and these pills directly kill this living human by preventing implantation at one week of life.

Pro-Aborts Banned from Speaking
The Catholic diocese of Vancouver, Canada has banned pro-abortion political candidates from addressing meetings on its premises. This, according to its Archbishop, Adam Exner.

Planned Parenthood Abortions Up
While the total number of induced abortions in the United States has dropped by 10 to 15% in recent years, the total number committed by Planned Parenthood continues to increase. Twenty years ago, Planned Parenthood killed 70,000 babies a year. Ten years ago, they killed 120,000. Last year, they killed over 180,000. This was an increase of 8½% from the previous year. At an average charge of $350 per abortion, Planned Parenthood's income from killing was $64 million last year. This represents 30% of its total income.

Antidote for Methotrexate
Australian pharmacist, author and lecturer, John Wilks, has reported the use of Leukovorin given to women who had changed their mind after receiving methotrexate for an early abortion. It has been used with methotrexate to protect normal cells. This is information that should be made available to all pregnancy help centers and pro-life medical personnel.

U.N. Population Fund Again
The United Nations Fund for Population Activity, in its annual survey of the world's population, mentioned "reproductive rights" 186 times. It mentioned clean water and safe sanitation once. "Reproductive rights" at the U.N. means abortion- on-demand, state paid, for all nine months. According to the Global Water Supply and Sanitation Assessment 2000, there are four billion cases of diarrhea each year due to lack of clean water and sanitation. Of these, 2.2 million die - these are mainly children under age five.

Britain Forbids Human Cloning
Well, not really. This new proposed legislation will not forbid the creation of human clones. It will not forbid lethal, destructive experimentation on human clones. It will not prevent the killing of a living human cloned embryo for the purpose of extracting stem cells. All it will do is forbid the introduction of cloned human embryos into a woman's womb.

The Billionaire Bomb
With the U.S. cutting back on its anti-population programs internationally, three billionaires are picking up the slack. They are Bill Gates ($63 billion), Warren Buffett ($28 billion) and Ted Turner ($9 billion). Tragically, these misguided men seem convinced that over-population is a problem.

Mexico City Policy Upheld
President Bush, after inauguration, announced the re-imposition of President Reagan's Mexico City Policy. Under this, there will be no international family planning funds granted to groups who promote or do abortions with their family planning. This raised a great protest from pro-abortion lawmakers and an attempt was made to overturn his ruling. By a vote of 218 to 210, the U.S. House of Representatives preserved the pro-life Mexico City Policy.

World Medical Association Condemns Euthanasia
On May 4 Reuter's News announced that the World Medical Association has stated in a resolution the following: "The World Medical Association reaffirms its strong belief that euthanasia is in conflict with basic ethical principles of medical practice and strongly encourages all physicians to refrain from participating in euthanasia, even if national laws allow it." The proposal was approved by every single member of its ethics committee, with the exception of the member from the Netherlands. WMA chairman, Randolph Smoak noted, "We are a profession whose sole aim is to preserve life and to help people get well when they are sick. We can do a better job at end-of-life care, and this should alleviate or remove entirely the need for euthanasia." He noted that it was "very clear that nations around the world represented here are unequivocally opposed to euthanasia… with one exception."

Defective Clones
Hamatech, an American company involved in animal cloning, has detailed a list of defects seen in animal clones. These include enlarged tongues, squashed faces, bad kidneys, blockages of the intestinal track, short tendons, diabetes, and others. At the University of Hawaii, another team attempting to clone mice has stated that all of their clones have had "some sort of errors".