Portuguese Doctors Defy Government Over AbortionRefusal to Modify Ethical Code to Allow for Controversial PracticeLISBON - The Portuguese doctor who refused to change the code of medical ethics to allow for abortion has been reelected President of the Portuguese Medical Association against the wishes of the country’s socialist government. Dr. Pedro Nunes defied official government instructions to amend the medical guild’s ethical code in light of the recent legalization of abortion.
The code of ethics as it currently stands states that “doctors must maintain respect for human life from its beginning” and that “the practice of abortion or euthanasia constitutes a grave ethical failure”. In a speech following his reelection, Dr. Nunes proclaimed that “Doctors are on the side of the Portuguese,” and that the Medical Association does not “have to do the work of the government nor the work of the opposition”. The minister of health, Mr. Antonio Correia de Campos, had threatened to prosecute Dr. Nunes for refusing to change the ethical code, but no legal action has yet been taken. Dr. Nunes’s term as head of the Portuguese Medical Association will expire in 2010. |
News of the WorldQUEBECJudge overrules father’s discipline of unruly childGATINEAU - A judge has overruled a father’s refusal to allow his 12-year-old daughter go on a school trip in punishment for her unruly behavior.
ALBERTATribunal orders evangelical pastor to cease preachingCALGARY - The Alberta Human Rights Tribunal has forbidden evangelical pastor Stephen Boisson from expressing his moral opposition to homosexuality and ordered him to pay $5,000 “damages for pain and suffering” and apologize to the activist who filed the complaint.
CHILEConstitutional Court outlaws morning-after pillSANTIAGO - The Constitutional Court of Chile has voted 5-4 to outlaw the distribution of the morning after pill. The final text of the ruling has yet to be released, as the justices are wrapping up their opinions.
SOUTH AMERICANewspaper: Virgin Mary Prevented Colombia WarBOGOTÁ - The Colombian daily El Tiempo has reported that the high tensions between Colombia on the one side and Venezuela and Ecuador on the other de-escalated after President Uribe of Colombia had a rosary said in the chapel of the Presidential Palace. The prayer specifically implored the protection of Mary as patroness of Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador.
AUSTRIAPoll: Austrians desire EU treaty referendumVIENNA - Sixty percent of Austrians want a referendum on the new EU constitutional treaty according to an OGM poll. 85 percent believe they have not been properly informed about the treaty. 47 percent expressed dissatisfaction with the EU, compared to the 44 percent who are happy with the EU.
Around the SphereA History of Political TrialsNot a single head of state who has faced trial for his political actions has ever been acquitted, writes John Laughland introducing his new book, A History of Political Trials from Charles I to Saddam Hussein, over on Brussels Journal.
Was World War II just as pointless as Iraq? It makes me feel like a traitor to write this. The Second World War was my religion for most of my life. Brave, alone, bombed, defiant, we, the British, had won it on our own against the most evil and powerful enemy imaginable, writes Peter Hitchens at The Mail on Sunday.
Whatever happened to the good old working man?He got rubbed out of history as being no longer desirable or fashionable to the modern world. And who rubbed him out? His supposed best “comrade”, the Socialist Left - that’s who! So writes Tribunus at Roman Christendom.
Political mythsThe Republicans (and the Democrats) have made the great error of believing their own propaganda, as well as relying on stereotype in stead of reality, writes Daniel Larison at Eunomia.
Spend more on Speaker’s HouseNot enough money has been spent on the Speaker’s house at the Palace of Westminster, while whole wings and corridors of rooms have been done up like those of a five-star hotel: dead in feel and execrable in taste. So writes Christopher Howse at the Daily Telegraph.
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