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Christian News

31 October 2004
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Southern Africa:

 

 

* TOUGH STANCE ON GAY ISSUE - African Anglican bishops plan to start their own theological schools to insulate young priests from teachings in Western seminaries that approve of gay clergy and same-sex marriages.
A meeting of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa in Lagos took the decision this week after overwhelmingly endorsing the findings of the recently released Windsor Report, which investigated gay clergy and same-sex marriages.
Men and men cohabiting was "against the African way of life", said Nigerian Archbishop Peter Akinola, chairman of the Council of Anglican Provinces of Africa.
"The Western world is embroiled in a new religion which we cannot associate ourselves with." (Sunday Times, 31 Oct 2004) (to index)

* WHATEVER HAPPENED TO PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY? - A short Report on the KZN Parliamentary Health Portfolio Committee Sittings on Friday 15 October and Monday 18 October 2004 with particular reference to the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Amendment Bill

The Constitution of South Africa says in section 118(1)(a)&(b):

"A provincial legislature MUST facilitate public involvement in the legislative processes of the legislature and its committees; and conduct its business in an open manner…"

To the best of Doctors For Life (DFL’s) knowledge no notice of these hearings was given to the public by way of press advertisement or in any other manner. In a telephone call to one of DFL’s staff the Committee Chairman said ‘We would have expected an organisation like yours to know’.
DFL did find out on Thursday 17 October ‘on the grapevine’ and sent representatives to the hearings on both the Friday and Monday. On Saturday 16 October their staff worked overtime hours to prepare and despatch by fax a 20 page submission both to the Secretary, and to the Chairman personally at her home.
At neither hearing were the public given any opportunity whatever to make submissions, nor was DFL’s written submission referred to at all on the Monday during the debate.
Only 2 MPs raised objections to the Bill, Margaret Ambler-Moore (DA) and Joanne Downes (ACDP). The Committee supported mandatory counselling (already in the existing Act but widely ignored) and voted to include a clause to hold abortion facilities liable for inadequate reporting; otherwise the ruling party overruled all objections. They asserted that nurses had adequate skills to perform abortions, and rejected obligatory scans to assess gestational age in spite of evidence that many abortions are performed illegally after 20 weeks. The Committee seemed obsessed with accessibility to abortion facilities and paid little or no regard to safety or the need to protect mothers from illegal abortions.

The nation-wide pleas of doctors and nurses for a ‘freedom of conscience’ clause were dismissed. The chair and Dr BT Buthelezi (IFP) persuaded the Committee that this was unnecessary in the face of the DA’s insistence that health workers face tremendous pressure. The evidence that the DA are right is clear for all to see. The nurses union DENOSA has spoken out about it in the media and DFL is currently conducting a case in the Vereeniging Equality Court on behalf of a Theatre Sister who was repeatedly intimidated for taking a conscientious stand. Freedom of conscience is well-established and accepted in medical ethics, supported by medical assassinations worldwide.
The Committee appeared to be poorly informed; decisions were made on the basis of personal opinion and party allegiance rather than on evidence. Objections were dismissed on the basis that further hearings will be held in Cape Town.
DFL looks forward to those hearings in Cape Town – they will be hearings of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) to which the Bill must go when the National Assembly are finished with it. The Constitution, by section 72, mandates the NCOP to facilitate public involvement using the same words as section 118, quoted above. DFL very much hope the NCOP will do more to fulfil their constitutional duty than the KZN Parliament did.
For more information, contact John Smyth QC, legal spokesperson (083 653 8804).
(Doctors for Life International, 20 Oct 2004) (to index)

* SISTER WILHEMIEN CHARLES AND THE KOPANONG HOSPITAL - Date fixed for hearing in Vereeniging equality court.
Sister Charles, a Chief Professional Nurse with special qualifications in theatre work, was barred from working in theatre at the Kopanang Hospital in Vereeniging because she had taken a stand on her constitutional right not to do abortion cases on the ground of her Christian beliefs. The new Equality Courts set up under the "Promotion of Equality and Prevention of Unfair Discrimination Act 2000", provide a fast-track procedure for dealing with cases of this nature. The theatre sister and Doctors of Life are claiming against the Hospital, the MEC and National Minister of Health:

  1. An immediate order that the sister be re-instated.
  2. An unconditional apology.
  3. Damages for the impairment of her dignity, and for emotional and psychological suffering, in the sum of R 50,000 and costs.
  4. Orders directing the Gauteng Health Department and MEC, and the National Minister of Health to restrain unfair discriminatory practices on the ground of religion, conscience or belief at the Kopanong Hospital and at Health facilities nation-wide.

This is one of the first sittings in South Africa of an equality court.
The hearing of Sister Charles’ case against the Gauteng Department of Health, the National Minister of Health and the Gauteng MEC for Health, will be on Thursday, November 4th at 0900 hours, at the Vereeniging Magistrates’ courts building.
This court case might be a foretaste of many more to come should the Government proceed with the proposed amendments to the abortion law. These amendments are bound to increase the pressure on Health Professionals to take part in abortion. The bill will be discussed on the 4th of November at Empangeni by the Lower House of Parliament. (Doctors for Life, Press release, 29 Oct 2004) (to index)

 

International

 

 

* TRIAL DATE SET IN EVOLUTION TEXTBOOK CASE - Atlanta - A trial date has been set for a lawsuit seeking to have Cobb County remove disclaimers about evolution from its science textbooks.
The case will be heard in U.S. District Court in Atlanta on Nov. 8, attorneys who sued the system to have the stickers removed announced Wednesday.
In the suit, Selman vs. Cobb County Board of Education, the lawyers claim that the placement of the stickers restricts the teaching of evolution, promotes and requires the teaching of creationism and discriminates against particular religions.
The disputed sticker, placed on the inside front cover of Cobb County science books in 2002, says: "This textbook contains material on evolution. Evolution is a theory, not a fact, regarding the origin of living things. This material should be approached with an open mind, studied carefully and critically considered."
A federal judge ruled in April that the case should go to trial.
The suburban Atlanta district became the center of national attention last September when its school board unanimously approved a policy on evolution that allowed science teachers to include "disputed views" on the origin of man. (Tallahassee Democrat, 27 Oct 2004) (to index)

* PORN INDUSTRY FEARS BUSH VICTORY ON TUESDAY - While it may not be a clear endorsement of John Kerry, elements of the porn industry are voicing their concern over the possibility of another four years with George Bush in the Oval Office.
It has been become painfully clear to adult industry publisher Dave Manack that if George W. Bush is re-elected next Tuesday, it would not be good for the pornography industry across America. "It's not to say our industry loves John Kerry or anything like that," the publisher of E.D. Publications told the Chicago Sun-Times, "but George Bush, if he's re-elected, it would be very damaging to our industry."
Adult Video News, the adult industry's trade magazine -- which has labeled Attorney General John Ashcroft as "the American Taliban" -- also has come out forcefully against President Bush. In an op-ed piece earlier this year, AVN told its readers "that President Bush is a fundamentalist Christian, arguably as radical in his beliefs as al Qaida is in theirs, and as such has a seriously unhealthy view of human sexuality."
In the op-ed, AVN criticized Bush for his statement calling for a fight to protect "our children and families for a safe and decent society." The AVN article further encouraged porn industry producers, distributors, talent, retailers, trade groups, attorneys, media and consumers, telling them they should "actively ... open their checkbooks to elect a Democrat to the White House."
In pockets around the country, strip club owners are venturing into the political debate as well. Strip club owner Jim Halbach, discussing a possible Bush election victory, says, "I'm actually fighting for my survival -- that's the way I am looking at it" (USA Today). And CBS News reports that Michael Ocello, president of the Association of Club Executives -- which includes adult businesses -- said his group believes the president's brand of conservatism is bad for the strip club business.
The criticism of President Bush and the fear of his re-election is also joined by the Free Speech Coalition, which defends all types of extreme porn -- even those types that could be prosecuted under existing federal obscenity statutes.
This reaction and accompanied fear tactics by publications and groups that support the porn industry appear to be calculated. Yet the rhetoric does not match the efforts by Ashcroft's Department of Justice to limit the industry, especially when compared to the DOJ's successes over the last 12 years.
Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association, says the porn industry's apparent paranoia of a second Bush term beginning in 2005 is a good thing.
"Evidently the porn industry is afraid that the president is going to enforce child pornography laws, uphold obscenity standards, and make sure [like other businesses] that they pay their taxes," Wildmon says. "We think this is good for America. They think it is bad to enforce laws that are already on the books." (Agape Press, 29 Oct 2004) (to index)

* VOTERS ON STATE LEVEL TO HAVE SAY ON ABORTION, STEM CELLS, SAME-SEX "MARRIAGE", GAMBLING - Nashville, Tenn. (BP) -The same day that voters nationwide choose the nation’s president, citizens in a handful of states will also have a say on a host of hot-button issues, including same-sex "marriage," embryonic stem cell research and abortion.
Eleven states will vote on constitutional marriage amendments Tuesday, led by Oregon -- a state that has been embroiled in the legal battle over same-sex "marriage" since the beginning of the year.
If the Oregon amendment passes, then the traditional definition of marriage will be protected from rulings by state judges. But if it fails, nothing is guaranteed. The fact that the Oregon Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a same-sex "marriage" case Nov. 17 has added a sense of urgency to the vote.
Two presidential battleground states -- Ohio and Michigan -- also will vote on marriage amendments. Most of the 11 states voting on amendments already have laws banning same-sex "marriage." But pro-family leaders note that those laws can be overturned in state courts.
"As long as we have activist judges, laws are not enough," Phil Burress, chairman of the Ohio Campaign to Protect Marriage, said last week. "We need to change constitutions. We need to restrict the power of judges."
Other states with marriage amendments on the ballot are Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Utah. (BPNews, 1 Nov 2004) (to index)

* POLL FINDS ABORTION HURTS WOMEN - A new Wirthlin survey says Americans know the truth about abortion — it almost always harms women.
A new Wirthlin Worldwide poll finds most Americans believe abortion is almost always a bad thing for women — and knowing someone who's had one doesn't change their minds.
Dorinda Bordlee, staff counsel for Americans United for Life, the group that commissioned the survey, said the results show that "the 30-year social experiment on women has proven that abortion is not a great constitutional right that liberates women."
"This has been something," she said, "that has really exploited women."
While conservatives have tried to pass laws to minimize the damage caused by abortion, liberals extol the procedure and turn a blind eye to those harmed. In fact, Planned Parenthood is selling T-shirts that proudly proclaim "I had an abortion."
Olivia Gans, a spokeswoman for the National Right to Life Committee, said abortion is a far more serious issue than some in the culture want to admit.
"These experiences, that are the life and death experiences of a woman and her child," she said, "are ones that this culture has been afraid to come to terms with."
She wondered if the poll will cause those who promote abortion to show a little more concern — or at least some more decorum.
Planned Parenthood refused to comment on the poll.
(Family News, 1 Nov 2004) (to index)

 

 

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