Friday 30 May 2014

Scottish registered abortion numbers fall again

Top stories:

Scottish registered abortion rate falls again
The annual rate of registered abortions in Scotland has fallen again, reports The Scotsman. According to the newspaper, "A total of 11,777 terminations were carried out in 2013, representing a rate of 11.2 per 1,000 women aged 15-44, official health statistics show. It is the lowest abortion rate since 2002, when the rate was 11.1, and continues the downward trend since 2008, when abortion rates peaked at 13.3. In 2012, the rate stood at 11.9." [Scotsman, 27 May]

Government abortion guidance "weak" and "fails to uphold law" says SPUC
The government’s newly-issued guidance on abortion is "weak" and "fails to uphold the law", says SPUC, the UK’s main pro-life political organisation. The Department of Health last week issued guidance on various aspects of abortion law and practice, such as sex-selective abortion, pre-signing of abortion authorisation forms and doctors’ assessment of abortion cases. Paul Tully, SPUC's general secretary, said that the guidance "endorses weak restrictions on some practices but promotes an underlying agenda of abortion-on-demand." [SPUC, 27 May]

Other stories:

Abortion
Embryology
  • Christian GP under investigation for refusing fertility treatment to lesbian couple [Mail, 27 May]
Population
Sexual ethics
  • Philippine bishops and local officials argue over teen pregnancies [UCA, 28 May]
  • Archbishop Smith/CBCEW defends homosexual civil partnerships, despite Catholic teaching to the contrary [John Smeaton, 22 May]
General
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