On September 10, Brad Draper, 44, shot himself in the head in the parking lot of the Planned Parenthood abortion clinic. He died later that night at the hospital. According to the family, Draper had seen ultrasounds of the child and was very excited about being a father until his girlfriend had the abortion without telling him. Family members say that the suicide was on what would have been the baby’s due-date. Draper paid to run an obituary shortly after finding out his son had been aborted. On June 5 the Kansas City Star published the following: ZACHARY DUNCAN DRAPER - December 2001 - May 17, 2002 Memorial services were held June 1, 2002, at D. W. Newcomer’s Oaklawn Memorial Gardens, Olathe, KS. Zachary Duncan Draper was beautiful as his mother, loved by God and others. My little baby boy didn’t make it to his Daddy’s arms. I never got to hold and kiss him, tell him stories or read him rhymes. . .

(www.onlinearchive.org/article.php?sid=461)

Belgium is the second country in the world to legalize euthanasia since the fall of Nazi Germany. The Netherlands was the first to do so. In May, Belgium’s parliament passed the law, and then in mid-September, the final stage for passage occurred when a committee was established to monitor the law’s implementation. Under the law, euthanasia can be carried out on terminally ill patients who have requested it, so long as certain legal procedures are followed. The Catholic Church in Belgium has condemned the law, although a majority of the population appears to support it.

(From the Daily Telegraph and Arianova - September 23, 2002)

Born at 24 weeks’gestation, Olivia Grace Reimers weighed only 12 ounces at birth on February 10. To the astonishment of her doctors, she left Centennial Hospital in Nashville, Tennessee four months later weighing over five pounds and expecting to live a healthy life. The survival of such a small baby is quite rare. Other area hospitals found no records of babies under 15 ounces surviving their births, the Tennessean newspaper reported. "I HAVE BEEN A HIGH-RISK SPECIALIST HERE SINCE THE MID-80s AND WE’VE DELIVERED A LOT OF TINY BABIES, BUT A BABY UNDER 400 GRAMS - I THINK THIS BABY WAS LIKE 380 GRAMS - THAT IS INCREDIBLY SMALL." Centennial perinatologist Dr. Salvatore Lombardi told the Tennessean: "I DON’T HAVE ANY RECOLLECTION OF EVER HAVING BEEN INVOLVED WITH A BABY THIS YOUNG AND THIS SMALL."

(Nat’l Right to Life News - 7/02)

Dr. James Dobson, president of Focus on the Family, in a radio broadcast denounced efforts by Republican leaders in Congress to bring a bankruptcy reform bill to the House for a vote. The bill is a comprehensive reform of the nation’s bankruptcy laws, but it also includes a discriminatory provision inserted by liberal New York Democratic Senator Charles Schumer that the pro-life community finds offensive. Ken Connor, president of the Family Research Council in Washington, D. C. and a guest on the broadcast, explained the problem with the proposed legislation: "(THE SCHUMER AMENDMENT) EFFECTIVELY SAYS, ‘IF YOU ARE A PRO-LIFE PROTESTOR AND YOU WIND UP WITH A MONEY JUDGMENT AGAINST YOU FOR ENGAGING IN WHAT WE REGARD AS CONSTITUTIONALLY PROTECTED SPEECH AND ACTIVITY, YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO DISCHARGE THAT DEBT IN BANKRUPTCY.’ THE EFFECT OF THAT IS TO CREATE A DISFAVORED CLASS FOR. . .PURPOSES OF PUNISHING POLITICALLY INCORRECT SPEECH, BECAUSE THE ONLY GROUP THAT IS BEING SINGLED OUT FOR THIS KIND OF TREATMENT (IS) PRO-LIFE PROTESTORS."

(www.family.org/welcome/press/a0023284.cfm)

The Alan Guttmacher Institute, funded by PLANNED PARENTHOOD, has issued results of a study indicating that abortion rates from 1994 to 2000 fell from 24 abortions per 1,000 to 21 per 1,000. The report also indicates that abortion rates rose 25 percent for women below the poverty line and 23 percent for women making less than twice the poverty level. Nearly 90 percent of abortions in 2000 were performed on women living in metropolitan areas. Blacks and Hispanics have the highest abortion rates. Blacks account for 32 percent of all abortions yet make up only 14 percent of women ages 15-44. Hispanics make up 13 percent of that age group and account for 20 percent of abortions. Abortion rates for teens between 15 and 17 fell nearly 40 percent from 1994 to 2000.

(http://traditionalvalues.org/artucke,php?sid=552)

A Kansas abortionist is offering a ghastly bonus for customers who come to his clinic in order to rid themselves of their unborn, late-term baby. George Tiller, who operates the Women’s Health Care Services in Wichita, promotes and offers a baptismal ceremony as an additional service to late-term abortion customers. The so-called "remembrance ceremonies" mentioned on Tiller’s website - all of which involve a dead, aborted baby - offer such things as "baptism of your baby, with or without a certificate," "certificate of premature miscarriage," and "footprints and handprints of your baby." James Lambert, a Christian author and host of a weekly conservative talk show on cable television in San Diego, helped publicize the grisly rituals in a recent article. He said the whole idea was "reminiscent of Nazi Germany."

(Agape Press - 8/30/01; NY Times - 12/30/00; AFA Journal)

Russia is facing a demographic crisis unprecedented in peacetime - and as his first year in office draws to a close, President Putin has declared finding a solution one of his top priorities. The latest figures show that in the decade since Communism collapsed, the Russian birth rate has halved. At the same time, the death rate is soaring - with Russian men living to an average of just 59 years - 14 years less than a typical Western European man. In Russia’s second city, Saint Petersburg, the mortuary is one place that is doing a thriving business - under orthodox crosses and icons the coffins are open as families go there to identify the dead and pay a final farewell.

(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/1098812.stm)

A Chinese businessman and his wife have been fined a record $51,000 for violating China’s family planning law by having a third child. The amount of the fine is six times the couple’s annual income and the maximum permitted for such a violation. It appears to be a warning for parents who may have more children than the law allows. China’s new family planning law, which took effect on September 1st, reinforces the country’s one-child policy while allowing several large subsets of the population to have a second child. Under the new law, the Chinese government will impose a "social alimony" on couples who violate the one-child policy as a form of "compensation for burdening society with more children."

(Agence France-Presse - August 9, 2002 - LIFE ADVOCATE - Sept./Oct. 2002)

Ian Wilmut of the ROSLIN research center in Scotland who is known for his work in creating "DOLLY", the cloned sheep, says every cloned animal is genetically and physically defective. Dolly the sheep itself suffers from premature arthritis, and Wilmut says cloned mice, cows, sheep, and pigs all show developmental difficulties.

(LIFESITE DAILY NEWS, 4/29/02)

Michelle Tooms, a pregnant mother from Mansfield, Texas, looked at the new "real-time 4D" ultrasound of her womb and was amazed at what she saw. The image on the screen had such clarity that it seemed like a high-quality photograph. "I EVEN THINK I SAW THE BABY SMILE. THE IMAGES MADE ME FEEL CLOSE TO HER" she marveled. Cal Thomas, syndicated columnist, pointed out in a recent WORLD magazine article that General Electric, creator of the 4D ultrasound device, highlights the medical benefits to be derived from the machine’s existence. Doctors will be able to see a developing child more clearly, enabling them to better diagnose potential problems.

(AFA Journal - September 2002)

LIFE DYNAMICS INCORPORATED (LDI) contacted school districts across America and asked them a few questions regarding their relationship with abortion providers such as Planned Parenthood. Their responses confirmed LDI’s suspicion that the relationship between school districts and abortion providers could be broken. Last month, LDI informed every school district in the US of the risk of legal liability they expose themselves to by working with abortion providers. In a letter from LDI’s general counsel, attorney Ed Zielinski, school officials were told that they could be held liable for actions by the abortion mill - actions such as failing to report statutory rape, abuse of parental consent laws, or even malpractice.

(http://www.onlinearchive.org - 9/5/02)

Dr. Philip Nitschke, the prominent Australian campaigner for euthanasis, has started to distribute specially designed suicide bags in the state of Queensland. Reportedly, more than 150 people have already placed orders for the bags, which have a specially designed elasticized opening to provide an airtight seal around the neck. The premier of Queensland told the state parliament that the bags were extremely distasteful and part of an attempt to pressure the government into legalizing assisted suicide but that the bags couldn’t be banned because it would lead to the banning of other items used for suicide that are freely available, such as razor blades.

(BBC News Online - 8/20/02 - LIFE ADVOCATE - July/August 2002)

On April 6, pro-life activist Earl Amyotte, from Windsor, Ontario, had two graphic signs depicting aborted babies confiscated by Canadian customs officials. The signs were inspected by experts on the Criminal Code to determine whether they were actually hate propaganda and/or obscene. In the end, they were declared to be neither. Two days later Amyotte was told that the signs were deemed not offensive and he could pick them up. However, Amyotte insisted that the signs be delivered to his house, which they were. They came within an hour, he reported. Since the incident, Amyotte has gained much publicity, including interviews by the Windsor Star, CKLW (a local talk radio show), the CBC, and Dallas-based Life Talk. CBC even broadcast photos of the confiscated signs, which is believed to be the first time network television in Canada has broadcast an image of what happens to aborted babies.

(From The Interim, May 2002)

A decision by the U. S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) in January has caused quite a stir among pro-life and pro-death advocates alike. HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson announced that health insurance benefits will be extended to pregnant woman, thereby designating fetuses as "unborn children." Under this new classification, pregnant women will be able to receive care under their state’s version of the Children’s Health Insurance Program, originally intended for "born" children only. Much has been written on both sides of the issue, with pro-life supporters expressing pleasure at the government’s action, while abortion proponents bristle. A FOX NEWS article quotes Laurie Rubiner of the National Partnership for Women and Families as saying, "I JUST HAVE TO BELIEVE THEIR HIDDEN AGENDA IS TO EXTEND PERSONHOOD TO A FETUS." Secretary Thompson answered the criticism by stating that "FEDERAL POLICY HAS PREVIOUSLY EXPRESSLY ALLOWED WELFARE AND MEDICAID COVERAGE FOR NOT-YET-BORN CHILDREN."

(USA TODAY, 2/6/02, www.foxnews.com, 1/31/02)

Chuck Colson has recently publicized the effort of the ACLU to require Christian-operated hospitals to perform abortions. The ACLU claims that access to abortions is "INCREASINGLY JEOPARDIZED BY THE IMPOSITION OF RELIGIOUS BELIEFS IN THE HEALTH CARE CONTEXT." In short, in the opinion of the ACLU, a religious hospital is "imposing" its religion upon clients when it fails to kill unborn children. The ACLU maintains that if a hospital provides services to the public, it should be required to perform abortions.

On July 26, WYETH PHARMACEUTICALS of Madison, New Jersey announced it would no longer distribute or market the six-capsule Norplant System which provides "contraception" for five years. What Wyeth did not mention, however, is that the Norplant System has been plagued with problems since its introduction to American women in 1990. Women have complained of severe side effects with Norplant, including excessive menstrual bleeding, severe headaches, nausea, dizziness and depression. In fact, Wyeth finally settled out of court with 36,000 women for more than $54 million in 1999 for these side effects. This settlement did not take into account the hundreds of women who have sued Wyeth for other types of injuries, including infection and scarring from removal of the implant. The decision to stop distribution of Norplant is also, obviously, a business decision. U.S. sales of Norplant peaked in 1992 at $120.7 million and have plummeted since. Sales in 1998 were only $4.4 million. Wyeth will pay for all removals of the Norplant System until December 31, 2002. Patients with further questions can contact the Norplant System Information Line at 1-800-364-9809.

(Pro-Life Action News, August 2002)