Genetic Testing of Embryos May Cause Dementia, Obesity In Adulthood
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- Preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) has become a controversial part of the booming infertility and baby-making medical industry. This example of unnatural selection allows for the chromosomes of an embryo created through in vitro fertilization (IVF)to be analyzed. If there's a problem, parents are encouraged to have an abortion. It backers have promoted the procedure as a widely used and safe medical test -- at least, until now. A new long-term analysis of PGD suggests that this procedure may hold serious long-term risks for humans subjected to this test while they were embryos. Animal tests have come up with worrisome evidence PGD could increase risks of obesity and dementia in adulthood. While it's almost hard to believe, no rigorous long-term studies have been carried out in order to see whether PGD poses any serious health risks down the line -- even though the procedure involves manipulating a developing embryo. So Chinese scientists Ran Huo, Qi Zhou and colleagues decided to work with experiments in lab mice to examine how a blastomere biopsy, as the key manipulation used during the PGD procedure, actually impacts fetal, neonatal and adult development. The results were disturbing. While the two groups of mice looked similar at first glance, the biopsied group of mice on average were fatter. What's more, they demonstrated significantly poorer memory in maze tests. In all, 36 proteins displayed significant differences between biopsied and control groups -- and 17 of these differences are closely associated with neurodegenerative disorders like Alzheimers and Down Syndrome.

New Document Celebrates the Rights of Unborn Children at United Nations Mtg
Geneva, Switzerland (LifeNews.com) -- The global outreach program of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life has been active in the 20th anniversary United Nations (UN) celebration of the Rights of the Child taking place in Geneva, Switzerland last week. With the hope of directing attention to the rights of the unborn child, MCCL has published a new document which details the rights of unborn children in existing U.N. declarations. “With more than 400 delegates and child’s rights activists gathered in Geneva to celebrate the progress that has been made, MCCL GO is taking advantage of this wonderful opportunity to educate people from around the world,” the group's director Scott Fischbach told LifeNews.com. “MCCL GO is reminding advocates that U.N. documents guarantee protection for unborn children.” The document and videos quote from four major U.N. declarations on child rights, dating back to 1924. The celebrated 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, General Assembly Resolution 44, is a comprehensive document to advance the cause and protection of all children throughout the world. The document quotes the 1959 Declaration of the Rights of the Child, which says in part: “The child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth.” Fischbach said: “In light of these U.N. protections for unborn babies, MCCL GO is making delegates and activists aware of the newest threats to the lives of unborn children, including sex-selection abortions and the aborting of the unborn based on DNA tests for possible disabilities. These new categories of abortion endorse discrimination against the unborn based solely on the child’s sex or possible physical or mental imperfections. Such injustices must not be tolerated by any in the international community.”

Chinese Women Face Infertility Issues Brought on by Abortion, One-Child Policy
Beijing, China (LifeNews.com) -- Semi-official data indicate that 40 million couples, one in eight, have difficulties in having children and fertility treatment often fails. The problems of infertility are blamed on the high abortion rates in China exacerbated by the forced-abortion one-child family planning policy. The data, according to AsiaNews, puts the infertility rate at 12.5 percent for all couples in childbearing age. As a result of China’s one-child policy the most populous country in the world could soon experience expanded labor shortages and a rapidly aging population. The 2009 Investigative Report on the Current State of Infertility in China, which was released at the China International Summit Forum on Infertility in August, found, in a survey of 18,000 people, seeking treatment for infertility in Beijing, that 10 percent had been trying to conceive for a year since getting married, 15 percent had been trying for two years and 25 percent for 10 years. For women, the leading cause of infertility is the blockage of the fallopian tubes, mostly induced by abortions. In all, 66 percent said their infertility had not been cured after repeated treatments. Since the late 1970s, China has pursued a one-child policy, whereby couples are prevented from having a second child, except for rural couples when their first-born is female or members of ethnic minorities, and punished with heavy fines in case of violations. Now medical experts conclude that abortion can cause complications for women who want to have children. The best fertility clinics in China, like the Reproductive and Genetic Hospital of Citic-Xiangya in Changsha, see long queues of desperate couples. The situation is such that the hospital's president, Prof Lu Guangxiu, said it had implemented a waiting list system of up to a year to cope with demand. He said that the high number of abortions and increasing levels of obesity were the main reasons for rising infertility rates. Wang Tianping, vice-president of the Population Association of China, a non-governmental organization set up by academics in 1981, warned that the problem of infertility has been underestimated.

NARAL Backs Abortion Advocates in Michigan, New Mexico, Colorado, New York
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The pro-abortion group NARAL is urging its supporters to back four freshman House Democrats who are facing the prospect of tough re-elections next year. NARAL is urging its supporters to back four freshman House Democrats who are facing the prospect of tough re-elections next year. NARAL President Nancy Keenan announced the group is endorsing Reps. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Betsy Markey (D-Colo.), Mark Schauer (D-Mich.) and Scott Murphy (D-N.Y.), and its political action committee is donating $5,000 apiece to their campaigns. “Reps. Heinrich, Markey, Murphy, and Schauer all have strong records of protecting and defending a woman’s right to choose and we are committed to mobilizing our members in support of their respective reelection efforts," she said. The endorsement certainly helps the four members with the pro-abortion activists , but will also be a rallying cry for Schauer and Markey’s Republican opponents. Schauer represents a southern Michigan district that’s home to conservative Hillsdale College, and contains many pockets of culturally-conservative voters. Schauer’s likely 2010 opponent is former GOP congressman Tim Walberg, who began his career as a minister. And Markey represents a Fort Collins and eastern Colorado district that former GOP congresswoman Marilyn Musgrave represented. Musgrave was one of the most outspoken voices against abortion in the House, yet was re-elected three times before losing to Markey in 2008. She now works with the Susan B. Anthony List.

Peru's Justice Ministry Reiterates Official Pro-Life Position Against Abortions
Lima, Peru (LifeNews.com) -- Peru's Justice Ministry reiterated last week its official position against abortion, despite the fact that one of its representatives, Ricardo Váscones, voted in favor of decriminalizing it in case of rape or severe deformations of the unborn child. That vote came in the committee that is evaluating a reform of Peru's Penal Code. The Ministry cites articles took from the American Convention of Human Rights, Peru's Political Constitution and Peru's Civil Code, that affirm that every person has the right to live and that life starts at the conception. Rosa Mavila, a representative of the Bar of Lawyers, said that this law would be applied only “after a medical evaluation.” In July, the human rights organization Amnesty International issued a report on maternal mortality in Peru that promotes abortion in the pro-life nation while advancing controversial interpretations of international law. The report, "Fatal Flaws: Barriers to Maternal Health in Peru," also acknowledges that lack of emergency obstetric care – and not access to abortion – is the largest contributing factor to high maternal death rates in the Andean nation, while listing obstacles faced by poor, often indigenous, women in gaining access to basic maternal and newborn care.

British Doctor tries to Make Girlfriend Have Forced Abortion With Poisoned Drink
London, England (LifeNews.com) -- A medical secretary has told a court her doctor lover spiked her tea to make her have a miscarriage. Bella Prowse said she became pregnant during an affair with her boss, married consultant Dr. Edward Erin, 44, but refused to have an abortion. Prowse, 33, said she found yellow powder after Dr Erin made her a cup of Earl Grey tea in January 2008. Erin, of Kensington, west London, denies administering poison to cause a miscarriage and other poison charges. The Old Bailey was told Dr Erin made two more attempts in February 2008 to poison Miss Prowse - once with a substance in her coffee and then in orange juice. However she became suspicious of her boss and did not take any more of the drinks. Police later found miscarriage-inducing drugs in the cup and beverages, the court heard. Prowse went on to have a healthy baby. Erin has pleaded not guilty to procuring poison to be used with the intention of causing a miscarriage between 21 January and 8 February, 2008, administering poison to procure a miscarriage, and two charges of attempting to administer poison. He worked for St Mary's Hospital in Paddington, west London, as consultant in the chest and allergy clinic, where Miss Prowse was his secretary.

National Pro-Life Religious Coalition Awards Family Research Council Prez
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- The National Pro-Life Religious Council (NPRC) announced last week the recipient of its annual Pro-life Recognition Award. This award is bestowed each year upon a leader who has made a significant difference in the effort to restore protection to unborn children. This year’s recipient is Mr. Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council. Rev. Frank Pavone, President of the NPRC, praised the work and example of Mr. Perkins: “Tony has an incredible record of uniting Christians of all denominations in legislative efforts that protect the rights of unborn children. We are particularly grateful for the pioneering way he has inspired and empowered pastors to join in this cause.” The pro-life award will be presented at the annual National Memorial for the Preborn, to be held on Capitol Hill on the morning of Friday, January 22, 2010, the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. This service has been held each year for nearly two decades and attracts participants from around the nation.

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