Free Republic

Catholic midwives in abortion conscientious objection case The staff claim their conscientious objections were not recognised Scotland's largest health board has been taken to court by Catholic staff who claim conscientious objections over abortion procedures were disregarded. Midwifery sisters Mary Doogan, 57, and Concepta Wood, 51, say being forced to supervise staff taking part in abortions violates their human rights....

A Welsh mother has been jailed after she bit a midwife who was helping to deliver her baby. Leanne Pennington, 26, was sentenced to 20 weeks in jail after sinking her teeth into the arm of 41-year-old midwife Carolyn Burden during the final stages of labour at Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil last May, news website southwales.co.uk reports. Mrs Burden, herself a mother of four, went back to help deliver the baby after receiving first aid treatment. Pennington, classified a "high risk patient", admitted to the assault which left Mrs Burden with a swollen and bruised arm. "It was...

WOMEN should embrace the full pain of childbirth to bond with their babies instead of resorting to anaesthetic drugs, a leading male midwife has said. UK professor Dr Denis Walsh said the pain of labour should be considered a "rite of passage" and a "purposeful, useful thing". The pain prepares women for the responsibilities of motherhood, he wrote in an international journal published yesterday. Australian obstetricians responded by saying women need to be free to make their own decisions. "It is a woman's choice and I don't think we have any good evidence to show that you have to have...

The citizenship of hundreds,possibly thousands, of people who insist they are Americans is being called into question because they were delivered by midwives near the U.S.-Mexico border. The federal government's doubts have arisen as many people in the border region try to meet a June 1 deadline to obtain U.S. passports so they can freely cross from one country to the other. The people delivered by midwives have documents such as birth certificates and medical records. But the agency that grants passports is challenging the credibility of those papers,citing a history of some midwives fraudulently registering Mexican-born babies as American....

Midwife’s arrest protested Supporters gather at courthouse; charges allege lack of credentials By ROB DOWDY Staff writer The children of protester Julianna Zull of Crawfordsville, Mireil, 2, and Gabe, 4, hold signs in front of the Shelby County Courthouse showing their support for midwives. NEWS photos by DAYLA THURSTON Mary Allen Ayres (left), president of the Indiana Midwives Association, stands with Jennifer Louisa Williams among supporters in the Shelby County Courthouse. A midwife from Bloomington turned herself in to the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department Friday afternoon as dozens of her supporters walked the grounds of the Shelby County Courthouse to...

Americans are living in a time when access to obstetrical care is an important topic in politics. Obstetricians are leaving practice in high numbers because of insurance rates which reflect the high number of lawsuits families are filing. This is a sign that the time has come for fellow Americans and politicians to recognize that Professional Midwifery Care has the potential to help resolve many of the concerns American mothers have in maternity care. How can midwives help the current state of maternity care and cost in the US? The cost benefits are evident of many levels: Beginning with prenatal...

Osama: The Making of a Terrorist" by a former Washington Post correspondent, Jonathan Randal, is less a biography of Al Qaeda's mastermind Osama bin Laden than a history of the contemporary jihadi movement, from its emergence in the mountains of Afghanistan during the 1980's war against the Soviet Union, through the planning of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, to its current metastasis in the wake of the Iraq war. Though much of the material in "Osama" is familiar from earlier books and newspaper and magazine articles, the volume does a nimble and often highly compelling job of leading the...

December 3, 2002, 8:30 a.m. By Benjamin Wiker Diminutive, soft-spoken, gray-haired inmate 17204 at Holmes County Jail has been behind bars for over a month. She wears an orange jumpsuit rather than her usual modest blue Mennonite dress. She stays in a cellblock on the second floor. Heavy iron beds, vinyl mattresses, metal sink, and toilet combination. No privacy. Most annoying of all, for this quiet, prayerful 47-year-old are "the blaring TV and the foul language from the girls. I'd appreciate specific prayer concerning that." Who is this criminal? Freida M. Miller is a lay midwife. She's been at it...