Quick News Roundup: 08/26/10

Domestic News: On Tuesday in Alaska, stronger parental notification laws were enacted via voter referrendum. 55.5% of voters supported the measure which would require 48 hours notice to parents prior to performing an abortion. Earlier this week, we reported that Virginia‘s Attorney General wanted to treat abortion clinics under the law like any other facility that performs medical procedures, much to the outrage of abortion advocates. Former White House speechwriter Mary Cary writes that this opinion will actually make abortions safer, despite what abortion advocates try to claim. In Minnesota, their Positive Alternatives program appears to be working. The program, which provides funding to life-affirming organizations provides pre-natal assistance to pregnant women throughout the state. In its first two years, 12,000 women were helped by this program, in its second 2 years – over 13,000 women. In its first year – 4% less money was required for taxpayer funding for abortions.

International News: Marie Stopes, an international pro-abortion organization, provides free abortions to its employees as part of its “benefits package.” Marie Stopes was already under fire in the UK for their pro-abortion TV advertisements. Speaking of the United Kingdom, recent abortion statistics were released in Wales and paint a grim picture. Teen pregnancies end in abortion 48% of the time and 60% of those pregnancies for teens 16 and under, end in abortion. Overall, in Wales, 20.5% of pregnancies end in abortion. The average internationally, is 20%. In Russia, 41% of people support additional restrictions on abortion according to a recent poll. According to the article, Russian abortion law allows abortions performed “…on demand up to 12 weeks gestation, up to 22 weeks for social reasons, and at any point during the pregnancy for “medical necessity” and upon the woman’s consent, and is offered free of charge at all state clinics.” Russian Health Ministry statistics show that 1.2 million abortions were performed last year. Compared to the 1.7 live births last year, that means approximately 41% of pregnancies end in abortion – paid for by the Russian government.

Discussion Topic: I’ve tried to include a discussion topic here each week – but lately it hasn’t sparked that much discussion. So, I ask the readers – what do you want to talk about? What pro-life activities, statistics, news, etc do you want to discuss?