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 | 2004-APR-5: UK: Abortion to be shown on TV: According to
Mirror.co.uk, a TV program is planned for British television which
will show an abortion being performed on a woman who is four weeks
pregnant. The program is called "My Foetus" and will be broadcast
at the end of 2004-APR. The embryo -- incorrectly called a fetus in the
news item -- will be placed on a
glass dish and shown to the
camera. At that stage, the embryo will be about 1/5" long, and look
something like a tadpole. The structure that will develop into a head
should be visible, as is a noticeable tail. The embryo will have
structures like the gills of a fish in the area that will later develop
into a throat. Remains of fetuses aborted at 10, 11 and 21 weeks will
also be shown. A spokesperson for the Marie Stopes Clinic, where
the operation was performed, said:
"It's time to draw back the
veil of secrecy." Pro-life groups indicated their displeasure. The
Roman Catholic Church condemned it as "abhorrent." A spokesman
for the Archbishop of Birmingham said: "We find it totally
irresponsible of Channel 4." Mediawatch-UK said: "You
don't need graphic images to have the debate." Charity Life
said the "horror of the procedure" would prove abortion was
wrong. Julia Black - producer of the program said: "The debate must be brought up to date." 1 | ||||||
| 2004-MAY-3: UT: New anti-abortion law takes effect: Senate bill 68, a strict law that bans public funding of abortions in Utah, took effect on this day. State funding to hospitals who perform abortions would be terminated. Exceptions to the law were provided in cases where hospitals perform abortions when the pregnancy was caused of rape or incest, or if the abortion was needed to prevent severe damage to a "major bodily function" of the woman | ||||||
| 2004-MAY: USA: Federal law: Senator Sam
Brownback (R-KS) and Representative Chris Smith (D-NJ) introduced a bill
to the Senate and House during 2004-MAY called the "Unborn
Child Pain Awareness Act." It would required abortion providers to
inform women who are about to receive a late-term abortion that her
fetus can feel pain. It would also give the woman the opportunity to
have pain control medication administered to the fetus before the
abortion. This would affect fewer than 1% of all abortions -- those
performed at 20 weeks or later gestation. The bill is supported by a
number of pro-life conservative Christian groups: the Southern
Baptist Convention, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops,
the National Right to Life Committee and the Family Research
Council.
The cutoff date of 20 weeks gestation is significantly earlier in pregnancy than the 26 weeks that most medical researchers feel that fetuses can feel pain. However, it is far later than the seven weeks that some pro-life groups have been promoting as the fetal age when pain can be felt. | ||||||
| 2004-JUN-8: Israel: Cabinet proposes relaxation of abortion law: The Israeli cabinet approved a law which would allow women to have an abortion if they suffered from poor economic conditions. The absence of the representative from the National Religious Party permitted the ministerial committee for legislation to approve the bill. A "social clause" once permitted abortions on economic grounds. But the clause was dropped in the early 1980s after a bitter battle with ultra-Orthodox religious parties. Currently, abortions are restricted to instances where the pregnant woman is unmarried, or has emotional problems, or is the victim of incest, or where the continued pregnancy would present a health risk to mother or fetus. Generally, women in difficult emotional circumstances lie and pretend to have emotional problems in order to obtain an abortion. 4 | ||||||
| 2004-JUN-11: Utah: Department of Health issued rule concerning abortions: The anti-abortion law which came into effect on May 3 caused a degree of chaos in Utah hospitals over terminating doomed pregnancies. A typical case might involve a fetus whose organs were developing outside of its body. "Utah hospitals and doctors stopped performing the rare procedures in cases of fatal fetal deformities..." The hospitals diverted women with doomed fetuses to one of three Salt Lake City women's clinics. The Utah Department of Health has now issued a rule that allows hospitals to resume abortions in such cases without violating the law, if they can prove that only "clinical" funds were used to fund the procedure. "Clinical" funds are those which come from health insurance, charitable donations or the patient's check. 5 |
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| 2004-JUN-22: MO: Judge blocks informed consent law, for the second time: A new law was passed by the Missouri legislature in 2003. It requires that a woman visit a doctor for counseling and then wait for 24 hours before she is eligible to have an abortion. The law has had an interesting history in its short life. First, the governor vetoed it in 2003-JUL. Then the legislature overruled the veto during 2003-SEP. Next, U.S. District Judge Scott O. Wright imposed a temporary injunction which prevented the law from being applied, The injunction was removed by a federal appeals court in 2004-MAY. Finally, Judge Wright reactivated the injunction on JUN-22. He wrote: "Plaintiffs are being forced to choose between performing abortions without any certainty that they are in compliance with the act, thereby risking imprisonment, fines, and professional censure, or ceasing the performance of abortions. Both of these options constitute irreparable harm to plaintiffs, their staff, and their patients." Apparently, the Judge believes that the law is so vaguely worded that a physician cannot be certain whether she/he meets its requirements. Vagueness appears to be a common feature of laws that restrict abortion access. It is causing many to be declared unconstitutional. 6 |
References:
- Emma Britton, "Outrage over plans to show abortion on TV," Mirroe.co.uk, 2004-APR-5, at: http://www.mirror.co.uk/
- Steven Ertelt, "New Bill Informs Women About Pain Babies Feel During Abortions," LifeNews.com, 2004-MAY-20, at: http://www.lifenews.com/
- "CWA Applauds Sen. Brownback’s Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act," Concerned Women for America, 2004-MAY-20, at: http://www.cwfa.org/
- Ruth Sinai, "Change to abortion law approved by cabinet," Haaretz.com, 2004-JUN-8, at: http://www.haaretzdaily.com
- Rebecca Walsh, "Abortion rule offers a solution for doctors," Salt Lake Tribune, 2004-JUN-11, at: http://www.sltrib.com.
- "Judge Blocks Missouri's Informed Consent Law for Second Time," Citizen Link, Focus on the Family, 2004-JUN-24.
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Copyright © 2004 by the Ontario Consultants on
Religious Tolerance
Created: 2004-APR-5
Latest update: 2004-JUN-25
Author: B.A. Robinson
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