Nora Sullivan, M.P.A

Last Saturday, in Dublin, an estimated 40,000 people came out to stand in opposition to legalized abortion-on-demand in Ireland.  The abortion issue has simmered in Ireland for years, but the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar in October 2012 has pushed the issue to the forefront of national debate.

The central Chinese city of Wuhan has sparked controversy worldwide with the publication of a draft ordinance proposing to fine women who have children out of wedlock up to six times the average annual disposable income.

On Monday night, state lawmakers in Vermont approved an assisted suicide bill which will make Vermont the fourth state in the union to legalize assisted suicide.  Governor Peter Shumlin (D) has said that he plans on signing the bill within a week.  Governor Shumlin has stated that legalizing assisted suicide “gives Vermonters who are suffering from a terminal illness and anticipating excruciating pain peace of mind in knowing that this is an option.”

This past Friday, disability rights and others working against an effort to legalize assisted suicide in the state of Connecticut, were able to successfully stop the momentum of this bill for the rest of the legislative session.

This past week the court case of abortionist Kermit Gosnell took on a new level of dreadfulness as a health inspector from the Pennsylvania Department of Health took to the witness stand.  Elinor Barsony testified to the deplorable conditions she discovered upon her initial inspection of Women’s Medical Society, Gosnell’s Philadelphia abortion clinic, in 2010.   Gosnell is on trial for the murder of seven babies born alive whose spinal cords he allegedly severed with scissors.

This past Friday, March 8, marked International Women’s Day.  The observance, quite admirably, draws attention to the social, political, and economic struggles of women throughout the world as well as the plethora of human rights abuses committed against them. There is no doubt that women have made and continue to make vital contributions to society and every day we seem to make substantial gains in the global arena.  However, it quite often seems that, throughout most of the world, to be a woman is to be born already facing an almost insurmountable struggle and, in many cases, a life of tragedy.

Last week, the Belgian Senate heard evidence from medical experts as legislators began the process of considering an amendment on the country’s euthanasia law to cover minors.  Euthanasia has been legal in Belgium since 2002 but has, since its enactment, been prohibited for patients under 18.

A new poll released by the Chiaroscuro Foundation in New York reveals that the majority of New Yorkers support sensible restrictions on abortion and oppose proposed changes to current law which would considerably expand abortion in the state. 

For years abortion advocates and researchers have been asserting that an abortion is in fact safer than carrying a pregnancy to term.  They contend that pregnancy is a long process and the chance of complications during the gestational period and birth is significantly higher than complications resulting from the abortion procedure.  However, a study released this past week demonstrates that this claim is not entirely valid. 

Wednesday marked the first working session of the North Carolina General Assembly and already a bill has been filed to compensate victims of North Carolina’s infamous, state-run eugenics and forced sterilization program, a representative for House Speaker Thom Tillis (R-Mecklenburg) confirms.