LifeZine No. 607: 21st Jul 08
Irish Award for Adult Stem Treatment for Arthritis Discovery
Trinity College Dublin’s Dr Daniel Kelly has won the President's €1 million Young Researcher Award for his study of adult stem cells used to create replacement cartilage for arthritic joints. New treatments for arthritis could emerge from his study of how stem cells react to the complex mechanical forces within knee, hip and other joints. The work could see the development of replacement cartilage grown outside the body and then implanted in ailing joints. Dr Kelly leads the work in Trinity College Dublin's Centre for Bio-engineering. This is a highly complex study, but one that holds particular promise, Kelly suggests. Details: CLICK TO READ MORE.....
CPA’s Abortion Claims Questioned
The Pro-Life Campaign (PLC) has questioned claims by the Crisis Pregnancy Agency (CPA) regarding figures for Irish women having abortions in The Netherlands. According to the latest UK abortion figures, which come from the UK’s Department of Health, the number of women travelling to Britain for abortions has fallen for the sixth consecutive year. However, the CPA suggested that the decrease in these figures may be due, in part, to an increase in women travelling to The Netherlands. A spokesman for the PLC said, “The most recent official Dutch statistics on foreign abortions do not back up claims made by the Crisis Pregnancy Agency that there is a significant number of Irish women seeking abortions in The Netherlands.” Details: CLICK TO READ MORE.....
British Mother Pays Tribute to Daughter Who Died From Botched Abortion
During the recent UK court hearing into the death of a teenage girl following a legal abortion, the girl's mother offered a tribute to her daughter. The court also heard that the hospital where Manon Jones sought emergency medical care following the botched abortion waited too long to help. Jones, an 18-year-old student from Wales, experienced heavy bleeding after the abortion, which appeared to have involved the dangerous RU 486 abortion drug, and she eventually died. According to a BBC report, hospital blood tests showed she needed a complete transfusion -- something that has frequently occurred after mifepristone abortions in the United States. The BBC indicated the post-mortem tests showed she died of low haemoglobin levels and shock caused by a failed abortion that left part of the unborn child inside her uterus. Details: CLICK TO READ MORE.....
Highest Ever Abortion Rates In England and Wales
Abortion figures for 2007 are expected to reach another record high in England and Wales. Official statistics are predicted to show that the number of terminations in 2007 again topped 200,000 as increasing numbers of teenage girls have unplanned pregnancies. It comes just weeks after MPs controversially rejected a bid to cut the legal time limit for terminations from 24 weeks. Campaigners said the new figures should lead to renewed attempts to prevent England becoming the “abortion capital of Europe”. Details: CLICK TO READ MORE.....
President of the Pontifical Academy For Life Retires
We note the recent retirement of the President of the Pontifical Academy for Life, Bishop Elio Sgreccia and the appointment by Pope Benedict XVI of a new director of the Pontifical Academy (Bishop Salvatore Fisichella). Bishop Sgreccia has been a staunch defender of life from conception to natural death and during his Presidency arranged a number of major conferences on critical life issues. We wish Bishop Segreccia well in his retirement. Details: CLICK TO READ MORE.....
Mexico Sees 40,000 Pro-Life Advocates March Against Capital Abortion Law
Nearly 40,000 Mexican citizens recently marched to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe to pray for the Mexico Supreme Court, which is considering a new abortion law that allows abortions up to 13 weeks into pregnancy. Guillermo Bustamante, an organizer of the march, told reporters the purpose of the pilgrimage is to pray “for the marvelous gift of life.” He said that he hoped pro-life protests would be held in other Mexican cities. The march in Mexico City is organized by 50 different groups and will coincide with arguments being held at the country’s Supreme Court over the constitutionality of the law on abortion passed in Mexico City in April of 2007. Details: CLICK TO READ MORE.....