Michigan Church and Pro-Life Sign Vandalized After Pro-Life Man Shot Protesting Abortion
Jackson, MI (LifeNews.com) -- After a Michigan man was shot and killed over a week ago while protesting abortion in a small town in central Michigan, abortion advocates vandalized a pro-life church and sign in Jackson. Police are looking for a person or group who broke a Virgin Mary statue and painted upside-down crosses on the doors of St. John Catholic Church. The church maintenance crew was at work early Thursday cleaning away the graffiti, shortly after workers discovered it when they went to open the building, Rose Noble, church controller, told the Jackson Citizen Patriot newspaper. Church staff called police, who came to investigate, she said. City Deputy Chief John Holda said the department will follow up on the complaint. ``We were kind of flabbergasted that anyone would want to do this,'' Noble said. The culprit or culprits smashed a statue of the Virgin Mary that stood 3 to 4 feet high in the side lawn between the church and the rectory, Noble said. There also was black paint on some church doors, on the building and on a sign placed near the church by Jackson Right to Life, a pro-life group. The sign advertises the organization's Oct. 4 Life Chain event. It will have people forming a human cross on city streets as a sign of ``solidarity by our community that abortion is grievously wrong,'' according to the group. Noble said the sign, the doors and the church now are free of paint. It all could be washed away, she said. The church will have to replace the Mary statue, she said. How much it will cost has not been determined, she said. ``It's just so sad that people would do that,'' she said.

Spain Government to Debate Measure Soon to Greatly Expand Abortions
Madrid, Spain (LifeNews.com) -- The ruling government in Spain has been working on a measure for some time to greatly expand legal abortions. The Equality Minister says she hopes to take the government’s bill to the next Cabinet meeting, next Friday, after the Consejo de Estado said last week the bill is constitutional. They recommended, however, that parents should be involved if an underage girl wants to have an abortion unless there are well-founded reasons that would cause a serious conflict at home if her parents were informed. The government proposes to allow unconditional abortion at 14 weeks from the age of 16 without parental consent, in a major overhaul of the current legislation which has been in place since 1988. The government is still looking for support. Speaking to EFE, Minister Bibiana Aído said that, while she sees the draft bill as the "best of all the possibilities, greater consensus is needed if it is to be approved by parliament. A protest march against the pro-abortion bill has been announced in Madrid next month, and the former Partido Popular Minister for the Interior, Jaime Mayor Oreja, has told Europa Press this weekend that he will be taking part. He led the party’s list of candidates at the European elections, and is the first politician from the PP leadership to have announced his intention to attend. It takes place on 17th October. Mayor Oreja holds the view, the news agency reports, that the fact that abortion can be considered a right is an "aberration."

Pro-Life Students Win Prizes in California Essay Contest on Abortion, Bioethics
Redondo Beach, CA (LifeNews.com) -- “Today’s youth want to save unborn babies and end abortion,” said J.T. Finn today in announcing that three students in Los Angles-area Catholic high schools have won cash prizes in the LoveMatters.com “Abortion Is Deadly” pro-life essay contest. “Abortions are truly deadly, physically, emotionally and spiritually,” said Finn, the editor of LoveMatters.com. “Abortion has taken the lives of one-third of their generation. But these students see through the deadly lies of the abortion industry. They each accurately and persuasively tell the truth: Abortions kill babies and devastate women, families and society.” Finn added, “The students clearly love babies. They revere the sanctity of human life and express that very well.” LoveMatters.com publishes a 32-page, pro-life, pro-chastity print newspaper and web site whose mission is to educate, inspire, and encourage youth to save sex for marriage and choose life rather than abortion. Fr. Sal Pilato, superintendent of Catholic high schools in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, last spring authorized the voluntary essay contest and asked the principals of 48 Catholic high schools to distribute copies of the publication to some 30,000 students to foster study and reflection. The distribution and essay contest were so successful, Finn says, that he is working to duplicate the effort and reach thousands more students in other dioceses. “We're calling pro-life leaders across America, and many are very interested,” he said. “Any diocese or anyone in the general public who wants to sponsor a LoveMatters.com distribution and pro-life essay contest can contact me."

Couple Sues Fertility Clinic for Mistakenly Destroying Their Human Embryos
San Francisco, CA (LifeNews.com) -- A couple is suing a San Francisco fertility clinic for destroying embryos mistakenly implanted with the wrong sperm. Robert and Katie Aschero of El Granada went to the Laurel Fertility Care clinic, The San Francisco Chronicle reported. Katie Aschero said she learned seven of 13 viable embryos (unborn children) were inseminated with another man's sperm and the clinic staff destroyed them even though the couple's contract with the clinic specified embryos not be destroyed, the newspaper reported. Three of the six correctly inseminated with Robert Aschero's sperm were implanted but the pregnancy was not successful. "They were contractually obligated to keep them," the couple's attorney Nancy Hersh said. "In addition to making the mistake, she learned they were destroyed and that caused additional distress." Katie Aschero said she doesn't know if she would have used the incorrectly inseminated embryos, but would have appreciated a chance to donate them to couples who want children. The suit names three specialists, Dr. Lee-Chuan Kao, Dr. Collin Smikle and Marlane Angle, the in vitro laboratory director as well as the clinic itself. No one from the clinic would comment, nor would their attorney David Lucchese, the Chronicle said.

Environmentalists Suggest Population Control as Japan Pays Families for More Kids
Tokyo, Japan (Lifenews.com) -- As environmentalists around the globe suggest population control is needed, officials in Japan are seeing a nation with too few people. In the country with the lowest birth rate in the world, the newly empowered Japanese government has proposed a solution: pay to procreate. As part of the manifesto that helped the DPJ rout the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party in last month’s election, families will receive 26,000 yen (about $280) per month for each child through junior high school. It isn't easy to raise children in Japan, where the birth rate of 1.37 children per woman has fallen well below the replacement level of 2.07 and contributed to structural problems facing the world’s fastest-aging society. The reasons cited are myriad: the cost of schooling, a lack of daycare options and an increasing number of women unwilling to interrupt or forego their careers among them. “We could use the money; it would help us manage,” said Jun Otake, a human resources manager at Japan Airlines who stands to receive $840 per month for his three young daughters. “People need help regardless of the number of children, but obviously more children mean more mouths to feed.” Other nations facing severe underpopulation like Russia have tried such programs to give couples money, goods or government services for having children. The programs don't appear to be working and worker shortages and other social problems continue.

Tennessee Right to Life Endorses Pro-Life Democrat Ty Cobb in Special Election
Nashville, TN (LifeNews.com) -- The state's oldest and largest pro-life organization announced its endorsement today of Democrat Ty Cobb for the special election being held in House District 62. "Challenges remain for Tennessee's pro-life movement and after considering the positions and commitments of both major candidates, Tennessee Right to Life has concluded that Ty Cobb has the stronger pro-life vision and voice," said Brian Harris, president of the organization. Members of the organization's political action committee met with Cobb and Marsh and also considered the results of candidate surveys and public forum statements in making their endorsement decision. Cobb's strong support for SJR 127 and his commitment to vote only for a pro-life Speaker of the House were key to the endorsement. "Our responsibility is to expand the Legislature's pro-life majority and that requires making a place for sincere pro-life democrats who share our concern for the protection of every human life," said Harris. "The protection of life is not a partisan matter and it requires every one of us to get the job done for Tennessee's unborn children and their mothers." Ty Cobb is the brother of former state Representative Curt Cobb, a pro-life leader whose efforts this year led to the passage of SJR 127. "We urge pro-life voters to actively support the election of Ty Cobb with their energy, efforts and their vote," Harris said.

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