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Ottawa Abortion Centre Facing $185,000+ Lawsuit for Negligence

OTTAWA, August (LifeSiteNews.com) - Prominent Canadian abortionist Henry Morgentaler is in the spotlight again with his Ottawa abortion centre being sued for $185,000 plus costs, for an alleged "botched" abortion occurring on August 8, 2003. Documents filed with the Ontario Superior Court last week name one doctor and five nurses and claim that the abortion was performed without anaesthetic due to an inability to insert an IV.

The woman claims she only discovered she was pregnant in July 2003.

Court documents note that immediately after the abortion she experienced cramping and bleeding which continued for weeks. A nurse at the abortuary contacted a week after the operation said such symptoms were normal, says the report. However, on August 23 the woman was admitted to an Ottawa hospital to have a placenta and remains of the baby removed.

The document says the woman's periods remained irregular for seven months and she continues to experience bleeding. The woman and her husband are suing for the "negligent" abortion and its resulting strain on their marriage, its interference with her fertility and the trauma it caused.

The news comes as no surprise to the pro-life movement. Gillian Long of Campaign Life Coalition told LifeSiteNews.com "This is not a surprising development, unfortunately. I hope this actually goes to trial. It would shed some light on how dangerous abortions are for women. Unfortunately, Morgentaler has a history of ensuring legal and financial settlements include clauses preventing victims from discussing their ordeals in public."

The rare times when such stories hit the press, the public is shocked. In 1985 the Toronto Star carried one such article. On January 12, 1985 a story concerning Morgentarler's Toronto abortuary led: "A woman who says she was mistreated at Dr. Henry Morgentaler's Harbord St. abortion clinic has told a Toronto reporter a sanitary napkin was forced into her mouth to stop her screaming in pain." ( see the story http://www.interlife.org/morgentaler/hh98b.html )

In 1993 the Edmonton Sun reported on a woman who said she almost died at the Morgentaler abortuary in that city due to internal bleeding after the procedure. (see the story http://www.interlife.org/morgentaler/ts85b.htm )

Another incident, this time at the Halifax Morgentaler abortion centre in 1998, saw an abortionist successfully sued for over half a million dollars for allowing a woman to drive home right after her abortion. She was badly injured in a car accident. ( see the story http://www.interlife.org/clinic/es93.htm )

The Canadian Press reports that those accused in the current case have not yet filed a defence.

jhw

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NJ Gov. Jim McGreevey Resigns as Sexual Misconduct Suit by Male Aide Filed

TRENTON, New Jersey, August 13, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - New Jersey Governor James McGreevey held a news conference Thursday to announce his resignation from office. In his speech, McGreevey attempted to blame an affair with another man as his reason for stepping down. However, the lawsuit by his so-called "consensual" partner, was filed on the same day as the resignation.

"I engaged in adult consensual affair with another man," said McGreevey. "Given the circumstances surrounding the affair and its likely impact upon my family and my ability to govern, I have decided the right course of action is to resign."

ABC news reports that a former male aide is charging the Governor with sexual misconduct. Former homeland security advisor Golan Cipel, who launched the suit, is suspected of being the Governor's secret liaison, according to several Governor's aides. The FBI revealed that McGreevey's office had been in contact regarding a threat from Cipel, that, unless paid millions of dollars, he would make the affair public.

In April, newly installed bishop of Camden announced that he would refuse communion to McGreevey because the governor is divorced and has remarried without receiving an annulment from the Church, and also, because the governor supports abortion and embryonic stem cell research, the latter item being a major part of the research industry in New Jersey.

In January, McGreevey signed into law a bill to allow human cloning. It was described by Daniel McConchie, Director of Public Relations and Public Policy with The Center for Bioethics and Human Dignity as the world's "most extreme and explicit."

Also in January, McGreevey signed in civil union legislation for same-sex couples, making homosexual couples in New Jersey almost on par with normal heterosexual married couples. The legislation required insurance companies to offer spousal health care benefits to same-sex "couples," as well as allowing them to make critical medical decisions for each other. The legislation also extended pension and health coverage benefits to same-sex "couples" employed by the state.

Read a transcript of McGreevey's press conference:
http://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/08/12/mcgreevey.transcri...

Read related coverage:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/08/...
http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/US/mcgreevey_040...

tv

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Same-Sex "Marriage" Banned in Australia

CANBERRA, August 13, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Australian Senate voted overwhelmingly in favour of a ban on homosexual "marriage" Friday. Passed by a 39-7 margin, the new bill adds the words: "Marriage means the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life" to the Marriage Act.

The decision to amend the law was rushed through before the courts legislate otherwise, according to Senate members. One case before the courts involves a same-sex "couple" vying to have their "marriage" -- performed in Ontario -- recognized as legal in Australia.

In direct contradiction to this suit, the Senate also inserted the terms: "Certain unions are not marriages -- a union solemnized in a foreign country between: (a) a man and another man; or (b) a woman and another woman; must not be recognized as a marriage in Australia."

In a surprise reversal, Labor Party supported the ban -- they had earlier supported a bid by minority Green and Democrat parties to delay the bill by redirecting it to a committee for further study.

Read related LifeSiteNews.com coverage:
New Australian Legislation to Prohibit Homosexual 'Marriage'
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2004/may/04052708.html

Read related coverage:
http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/08/12/1092102595712.h...

tv

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Michael Reagan to Speak At Republican National Convention Against Human Embryo Research

WASHINGTON, August 13, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The Republican Party has decided to feature Michael Reagan, son of former President Ronald Reagan at this year's National Convention to speak on stem cell research.

Family Research Council (FRC) praised the move, saying "The Republican Party, in keeping with its pro-life platform, has invited staunchly pro-life Michael Reagan to speak in front of a national audience and address both sides of stem cell research - adult and embryonic. We applaud this decision and trust that Michael Reagan will defend his father's memory by reiterating that he was unabashedly pro-life and believed that life begins at conception."

FRC president Tony Perkins said, "Sadly proponents of embryonic stem cell research have been using members of the Reagan family to do their public bidding. These people say the Reagan family supports this research in memory of their father former President Ronald Reagan. To the contrary, Michael Reagan has been outspoken about his defence of his father's policies on life and against the destruction of embryos for ineffective science.

"As a board member of the Alzheimer's Foundation, Michael Reagan understands that the promise for cures for diseases like Alzheimer's from embryonic stem cell research is bleak at best and yet sadly, some are willing to distort the science and the truth for political gain," Perkins concluded.

jhw

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Prime Minister Says Supreme Court Vacancies to be Filled this Fall

OTTAWA, August 13, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Prime Minister Paul Martin said Thursday that the two vacancies on the Supreme Court would be filled without delay. Nominations have been pending since the resignation of two Supreme Court judges, Louise Arbour and Frank Iacobucci. Iacobucci retired from the Supreme Court in June and Arbour moves on to her new post as United Nations high commissioner for human rights in Geneva.

The fall appointments are seen as crucial by pro-life and pro-family circles, as the Supreme Court is to hear a milestone same-sex marriage case when the fall session begins. The pro-family movement is happy over the departure of Justice Arbour, who has ruled in favour of common law unions and urged the total criminalization of child spanking, but they are also apprehensive about the upcoming nominations.

When the Supreme Court begins its fall session in less than seven weeks time, new rules may be in place enabling parliamentarians to screen the nominations. Traditionally, Supreme Court nominations are made by the prime minister with few opportunities for prior scrutiny. The prime minister had promised a comprehensive set of new rules allowing MP's to screen all future Supreme Court appointments, but the rules are not yet in place and Martin may have to draft temporary guidelines for the upcoming nominations.

Fore more coverage of this story, read http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1845&ncid=18...

jmo

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Natural Family Planning Gets Coverage in Communist Magazine

HAVANA, August 13, 2004 (LifeSiteNews.com) - The official youth magazine of the Cuban Communist Party has published an interview with a pro-life spokesperson, Dr. Maria Concepción Morales, physician for internal medicine at the Diez de Octubre hospital in Havana. In the July 24 on-line edition of Juventud Rebelde, or "Rebellious Youth," Dr. Morales explains the Billings method, calling it a "very easy and effective" means of natural family planning (NFP).

The interview appeared in the Sexo Sentido section of the daily publication, whose authors generally offer a liberal take on human sexuality and relationships. In the interview with Dr. Morales, Juventud Rebelde reports that the methods of NFP "are gaining more followers every day due to their ease, security, and because they do no harm to women's health."

Dr. Morales is a project partner of Aid to the Church in Need, a Catholic charity that supports church-based projects in countries where the faithful do not enjoy full freedom of religion. According to Javier Legorretta, head of ACN's Latin America section, "The publication of this interview is a sign of hope for Cuban families amid all the difficulties they have to face."

ACN has been promoting authentic family values in Cuba since it began supporting projects in the country more than 40 years ago.

jhw

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LifeSite NewsBytes

Mississippi investigating local abortionist Dr. Malachy Malvin deHenre who had medical license suspended while in Alabama
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/state/9388045.ht...

Pro-Life Africans Fight Back Against Drive to Legalize Abortion
http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewForeignBureaus.asp?Page=%5CForeig...

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