International Right to Life Federation, Inc.
Vol. 13 No. 2
(March/April, 2002)

Coercive Abortion in Vietnam
According to a report from the Population Research Institute, whose representatives visited the headquarters of UNFPA in Vietnam, this government's family planning policy is universally coercive. They obtained this information after visiting seven Vietnamese county programs. Women are limited to two children. Beyond this, they are forced to use IUDs. There is punishment for noncompliance, and there is forced abortion. In Quang Nam County, entire villages, inhabited by minorities in mountain areas, have been forcibly sterilized. Unlike in China, where UNFPA denies coercion, this organization does not deny that its programs are coercive.

Afghanistan Legalizes Abortion
Kabul's interim government has legalized abortion in Afghanistan up to the third month of pregnancy. According to reports, three doctors must certify that the abortion is a medical necessity. Such a certification in other countries has quickly become meaningless. The Muslim press has already expressed concern about UNFPA's promotion of chemicals and equipment for first trimester manual suction abortions.

Argentina Prohibits Morning After Pill
On 5 March, the Supreme Court of Argentina ruled that the morning after pill, know as "Imediat", produced by the Argentine laboratory, Gador, may not be manufactured, distributed or sold in Argentina. The reason given was that the pill is an abortifacient and, therefore, violates the constitutional protection of human life "from the moment of conception."

UNICEF Is Pro-Abortion
The Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute in New York has revealed that in South Africa UNICEF has been providing major funding for LOVELIFE. This is a pro-abortion website for South African children. It tells girls, "It is your right to get an abortion. If people are not helpful, don't get discouraged, keep trying." It supports abortion for children without the knowledge or consent of their parents. For many years UNICEF has masqueraded as being solely a humanitarian organization helping children worldwide. It was that when it was first organized, but it has been captured by the pro-abortion industry and now no longer should be supported by any pro-life person.

Canada & Cloning-Yes & No
In March, Canada issued new guidelines allowing embryonic stem cell research on living human embryos left over from fertility treatments. It banned reproductive cloning, i.e., allowing the human to grow and be delivered. But it does allow "clone and kill" for research purposes. This provides researchers with more sources of human embryos than their counterparts in the U.S. The government committee said that it was "not persuaded by the perspective that an embryo is a human being with an inalienable right to life."

Campaign Life Coalition condemned the new guidelines as inhumane and presumptuous. "The use and killing of human beings for scientific research was condemned at Nuremberg…Scientists of today know full well that adult stem cell research has a proven track record and does not kill a human being, yet the opportunity of having available victims, human embryos, appears to be too tempting to pass up."

HIV & Babies in South Africa
The following is from Philip Rosenthal, head of the pro-life group in Capetown, South Africa. "About a quarter of our population now have HIV; most of them are of reproductive age. The government is refusing to give AIDS drugs to pregnant women to prevent transmission to their babies, because they don't want to have to look after the orphans. Now there is a revolt in the hospitals, with many dispensing AIDS drugs to them without permission. The African National Congress, the ruling party, is now split, with Mandela, the Johannesburg governor, and the trade union movement pro-AIDS drugs for pregnant women, while the cabinet and president oppose AIDS drugs. Opposition parties are also pro-AIDS drugs for pregnant women. The ANC has never been spilt like this before."

It is now known that preventive drugs for AIDS, given to pregnant women, dramatically lower the number of infants infected with the HIV virus.

Abortion Legal In Nepal
It looks like the abortion controversy in Nepal has finally reached the end of the line. According to LifeSite of Canada, Nepal's lower house of Parliament voted 147 to 1 to pass the measure. This super majority overrides the rejection of the bill by their upper house. Nepal will now have legalized abortion on demand for three months with the husband's consent, and up through four months for rape or incest.

Pill Banned In Philippines
The Philippine Bureau of Food and Drugs has banned the importation, sale and use of Postinor, a morning-after pill masquerading under the title of emergency contraception. As we have noted, a more accurate title is "emergency abortion." Their statement was, "The Bureau, after careful and thorough evaluation of position, papers and research…has determined with the concurrence of the Secretary of Health, that this drug has an abortifacient effect, and contravenes existing provisions of law on this matter." All supplies of the drug currently in the Philippines have been recalled.

Wrongful Life Lawsuits in Europe
Following the recent example in the French National Assembly, members of the European Parliament have proposed a written declaration calling for a ban on wrongful life lawsuits throughout the European Union. Their declaration states, "All forms of discrimination based on assumptions of lower quality of life of disabled persons are unacceptable. It is necessary to reaffirm the value of human diversity."

Cloning Is Not Cloning?
Reuter's Health, 14 February 2002, reports that if the intention of the scientist is to create human embryonic cells from cloning for medical research, and the intention is not to "create carbon copies of people," then the procedure should not be called cloning. This is a new twist. A clone, is a clone, is a clone. This is a biologic fact. What you intend to do with the clone does not alter what the clone is. This is more of the same semantic gymnastics that we continue to see resorted to by anti-life forces.

Delay Pregnancy-More Breast Cancer
A study of nearly 100,000 French women in the British Journal of Cancer reported on by the London Independent, February 13, 2002, shows that women who do not have a pregnancy until their thirties are two-thirds more likely to develop breast cancer before menopause and one-third more likely to develop post-menopausal breast cancer, than women who give birth to their first child before the age of 22. Each year a woman delayed her first full term pregnancy was associated with a 4% annual increase in pre-menopausal cancer risks, a 2% increase post-menopausal. Menarche at age 12 had a higher risk of later cancer than menarche at age 15.

The author, Dr. F. Clavel-Chapelon, found no link between miscarriage and higher breast cancer. It did not examine induced abortions' effect, but postulated that since miscarriage did not increase risks, induced abortion also would not. Unfortunately, these authors have not followed the very meticulous reporting of Dr. Joel Brind, who has shown conclusively that while miscarriage does not increase risks, induced abortion very definitively does.

Pregnant in Sudan Equals Capital Punishment
The Vatican radio on 7 February described the case of an 18-year-old Christian girl, Abok Alfa Akok. She has been condemned to death by stoning in Sudan for being pregnant out of wedlock. She happens to have become pregnant through assault rape. Muslim officials, however, have made it clear that they will persecute people of different faiths and ethnic backgrounds. In this case, they will apply Islamic law, which requires such punishment.

Tibet Forced Abortions
A research team of Americans and Tibetans recently reported that there are no forced abortions and sterilizations in Tibet. Mr. Steve Mosier, of the Population Research Institute, said, "Claims that forced abortions in Tibet do not occur is the result of yet another international whitewash." At a Senate hearing recently, two U.S. senators stated, "It is virtually impossible to obtain valid testimonies from the victims of forced abortions in anything other than a covert operation. If a victim of forced abortion is caught telling the truth, strict punishments are enforced." So the report of this team is just another propaganda ploy.

UNFPA Money Frozen
After a hard fought legislative battle, the U.S. Congress had approved 34 million to be given to the United Nations Fund for Population Activity. This bill contained a clause that the dispersal of the money required approval of the President. Recent congressional hearings and testimony had shown once more that the UNFPA was deeply involved in China's coercive abortion and sterilization program. Pro-life authorities pleaded with President Bush not to approve using U.S. taxpayers' money to continue this genocide. In response to this, Bush has announced that he has decided not to decide. He has not approved the use of the funds for now, but reserves the right to change his mind later. He stated, "I haven't decided yet, but I'm keeping all of my options open." Let's hope he doesn't decide for a long, long time.

Pro-Life Declaration
The Slovak Parliament has adopted a declaration affirming its national sovereignty in cultural and ethical issues. Dated 28 January 2002, it states: "The protection of life and the dignity of the human being from conception to death forms part of the basis of society. This is in line with the traditional values and ethical principles of the European civilization. These issues must remain in the exclusive power of the member states and be respected by the European Union." It would seem that this declaration has been made in response to suspicions that the European Union may try to impose uniform ethical standards throughout its area, standards that might not respect the fundamental right to life.

Russia-No to Some Cloning
The Russian government has proposed a law which would ban human cloning and bringing a child to birth (reproductive cloning). It would, however, allow human cloning and killing for research purposes ("therapeutic cloning"). The leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church have condemned such experimentation.

India-- Crackdown On Sex Selection
In a judgment responding to complaints, the Supreme Court of India ordered that its state governments should impound ultrasound machines in all unregistered clinics. This was due to what they described as the misuse of the machines for the purpose of sex selection of unborn children, which is illegal. India's Prenatal Diagnostic Technique Act, now several years old, had banned the use of ultrasound and other prenatal diagnostic techniques for determining fetal sex. The reason for this is the Indian tradition favoring male children. Since there is no Social Security, parents must be supported by their son, whereas a girl's parents spend a great deal of money on her marriage dowry but then are shut out from support because she joins her husband's family, who are not responsible for her parents' support. The Indian Medical Association estimates that 5 million female fetuses and/or infants are killed in India every year. Their recent 2001 census revealed 933 baby girls born for every 1000 boys. Unofficial local judgments evidenced great skepticism about the effectiveness of the court's decision in changing this practice.

The Pill and Blood Clots
The British Department of Health has issued a statement advising all women who have increased risk of deep-vein blood clots to "seek medical advice before going on long plane or car trips." It noted that women who were at increased risk were those taking birth control pills or hormone replacement therapy, those who have recently given birth, who are pregnant, or who have recently had a stroke or surgery. It stated that women taking oral contraceptives are "three times more likely to be at risk" for developing a blood clot. It suggested certain guidelines that might help prevent such clots. These include "in-seat exercises." They include support stockings and taking certain blood thinning medication. Your editors also note the obvious, and that is that such a person on a long airplane flight should get up from her seat and walk up and down the aisle, every one to two hours.

Taiwan Bans Cloning
According to Reuter's News Agency, 21 February, Chin I-an, section chief of Taiwan's Department of Health, announced that Taiwan had decided to forbid all human cloning and research on embryonic stem cells.

Mexico Abortion Challenged
Mexican members of the National Legislature have instituted a challenge against their nation's Supreme Court, which declared in December that abortion would be permitted in cases of assault rape and fetal abnormality. They are taking the case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, an autonomous agency of the Organization of American States. All of the congressmen are members of the ruling National Action Party of President Vincente Fox. They claim that the Supreme Court's ruling violated Mexico's pro-life constitution. They also claim that it violates fundamental human rights.

Cloned Mice Die
Researchers at Japan's National Institute of Infectious Diseases, led by Atsuo Agura, have reported in the February 11 issue of Nature Genetics "the possible negative long-term effects of cloning, as well as the high incidence of spontaneous abortion and abnormal birth of cloned animals, give cause for concern about attempts to clone humans for reproductive purposes." They compared 12 mice produced by the cloning technique to 12 "normals." After 800 days, ten of the 12 cloned mice had died, compared to only three of the controls. Autopsies of the cloned mice showed that all had severe pneumonia. Four had serious liver damage, while two had cancerous tumors.

Dr. Rudolph Jaenisch, at the Whitehead Institute of Massachusetts's Institute of Technology commented: "I'm not surprised. This has confirmed my strong belief, and others, that most clones, if not all, have subtle defects." He explained the hypotheses as to why clones age prematurely: "It is because 'specialized cells' that were already 'turned off' in the adult individual that was cloned, may not be capable of reactivation in the clones." Dr. Davor Solter at the Max Planck Institute in Germany commented, "Defects in clones may not be inevitable, but they're so likely that it makes no difference. This study may serve as a deterrent, if one is needed, for some idiot who will start cloning people."

Japan Okays Cloning
The Japanese government's Counsel for Science and Technology policy has issued a statement. It will allow the use of cloning technology "to produce combined human-animal embryos, that someday could be used to produce human organs for transplant." It does prohibit "reproductive human cloning", that is, implantation of human clones and carrying them to birth and delivery. However, it will "lift the freeze on other types of cloning research." So the Frankenstein mentality will apparently have free reign in Japan.

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