Scientists involved in the creation of existing stem cell lines are calling into question the quality and viability of the embryonic stem cell lines approved for use in government funded research. Monday the National Institutes of Health (NIH) released a list of 64 stem cell lines created before August 9, 2001, the cutoff date for […]
Citing concerns over growing populations of asylum seekers, Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, continues to refuse to allow 434 refugees, mainly from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka, to dock at an Australian port on Christmas Island. The refugees were rescued from a sinking Indonesian ferry Monday by a Norwegian freight ship. The U.N. High Commissioner […]
President George W. Bush’s choice of John Klink for head of the State Department Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration may be in jeopardy. Klink, a Roman Catholic and longtime relief worker, is a staunch anti-abortion activist who has argued not only against abortion but against emergency contraception (also known as the “morning-after pill”) and […]
Smoking during pregnancy, a habit linked to a range of mental and physical problems in children, declined across racial and ethnic lines each year during the 1990s, according to the Center for Disease Control (CDC). Overall rates dropped by one third, with significant differences between age groups. While smoking among pregnant women in their late […]
Roger W. Bowen, the State University of New York president that endured much criticism for allowing a controversial women’s studies conference and the Vagina Monologues at SUNY New Paltz, has announced his retirement. Although both the university and Bowen are calling the resignation voluntary, there is intense speculation that it is related to Bowen’s role […]
Earlier this month, the Census Bureau released the final statistics detailing the number of unmarried, same-sex partner households in the United States, revealing a 314 percent increase over the 1990 Census. According to the 2000 Census data, 601,209 unmarried, same-sex partner households were counted, compared with 145,130 in 1990. More importantly, 99.3 percent of all […]
A State Department spokesperson announced late yesterday that, despite concerns over abortion-related language, the Bush Administration does plan to send a delegation to the United Nations General Assembly session on children this September. This contradicts reports given earlier yesterday saying that the Bush Administration planned not to attend the session at all because of concerns […]
The captain of the Norweigian ship which had rescued 434 refugees who were mostly from Afghanistan took his ship into Australian waters, in an effort to force assistance from the Australian government which had denied the ship entry. Australian troops have now taken control of the ship, which includes many refugees in need of medical […]
The Atlanta Women’s Medical Center (AWMC), one of the two Atlanta abortion clinics that serve the University of Georgia (UGA) will begin offering the abortion pill (Mifeprex/RU486) by the end of 2001. The student health clinic at UGA that makes referrals to the AWMC said that they will reassess the clinic in light of the […]
A friend in the sisters of Loretto told me after a trip to Ghana in the early 1990s that sisters there reported that priests forced them to have sex before they were allowed to receive grants from groups abroad. Many of us in the Catholic community had heard these kinds of stories before, but it […]
According to State Department officials, the Bush administration may refuse to send a delegation to the upcoming special United Nations General Assembly session on children next month because it fears that the final language of the declaration will include support for abortion counseling and services. In addition, the Bush administration stressed its concerns that the […]
With more and more refugees fleeing Afghanistan, it’s becoming impossible for refugees to find countries willing to grant them admission. Most recently, Australia has refused entry to a Norwegian ship carrying hundreds of refugees, most of them from Afghanistan. Over 400 refugees were rescued on Monday from a sinking Indonesian ship. According to the United […]
In the latest development in the Taliban’s arrest of international humanitarian workers for allegedly “promoting Christianity,” two American parents and diplomats from Australia, Germany, and the United States were finally granted permission to visit the eight detained workers. Though the eight foreign prisoners from Shelter Now International (SNI) were reported to be in good condition, […]
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) released a list of ten groups today who possess the 64 stem cell colonies that the Bush administration has deemed eligible for federal research funding. The groups, four of which are in the United States and six others in Australia, India, and Israel have told the NIH they will […]
Last night on “CNN Presents,” British journalist Saira Shah risked her life entering Taliban-controlled Afghanistan to document on film the horrific treatment of women and girls, unimaginable destitution, and the mass murder of ethnic minorities. Shah is one of few journalists to go to the front-lines of Taliban-controlled Afghanistan. The piece confirmed that the Taliban’s […]
Along with mounting doubts as to the actual quantity of stem lines available for federally funded research, new concerns are mounting as to the ability of researchers to even use existing lines. According to scientific literature, all embryonic stem cell lines created thus far have been mixed with mouse cells, which nourish the human embryonic […]
The University of Nebraska Medical Center has agreed to reinstate Dr. LeRoy Carhart to his position as volunteer faculty and pay attorney’s fees in the amount of $65,000, following a settlement announced yesterday. Carhart filed a lawsuit against the University of Nebraska in January 2001, claiming he was fired from his volunteer adjunct professor position […]
An Illinois judge ordered anti-abortion activists to remove a woman’s medical record and photo from the internet Wednesday, ruling that the men had violated her “medical privacy” by posting her medical and personal information on the internet without her consent. The woman’s medical record, photo, and other identifying factors, such as hometown and family descriptions, […]
The anti-abortion extremist group, Center for Bioethical Reform, continues to harass, endanger, and misinform the American public, as it takes to the streets in large truck with pictures of aborted fetuses on its sides this month. According to the Center’s spokesperson, the vehicles, operated by drivers in body armor and helmets, will cruise the highways […]
A federally-funded study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine concludes that intrauterine devices (IUDs) do not increase the risk for infertility among women who have never been pregnant. As previous studies did not test for chlamydia, a major case of infertility, these studies may have falsely attributed IUDs as a primary cause […]
