Free Republic

When abortion activists came out shrieking with rage at Canadian Member of Parliament Stephen Woodworth’s suggestion that a committee examine human life in the womb in 2013, he was somewhat surprised. When the Canadian government kowtowed to feminist hysteria to shut down MP Mark Warawa’s motion to condemn gender-selection abortion, Woodworth noticed a trend—and coined a new term. What we’re seeing is “abortionism,” he told me in an interview some time ago. “Abortionism” is essentially a philosophy that raises abortion to a sacred status, above all other democratic principles.I agree with Mr. Woodworth, but I think the problem goes much...

Homosexual groups ask reforms in the children’s “rights” in Brazil Children’s rights movement joins homosexual movement to advocate “sexual autonomy” of children, the secular State and measures to confront Christian activism in society By Julio SeveroRadical homosexual groups joined children’s “rights” government and non-government groups in Brasília, Brazil, from May 6 to 8, 2009, to discuss and pinpoint plans to promote as human rights the “sexual rights” of children and adolescents.The major meeting, which united the homosexual movement and the children’s “rights” movement, was entitled “Human Rights and Sexual Diversity of Adolescents in the Federal District”.In the meeting, the following...

KARAJ, IRAN – The rewards are great - and the disappointments as powerful as any felt by firefighters around the world. But at Station No. 9 in Karaj, west of Tehran, a small unit prides itself on being like few others: the only squad of women firefighters in the Middle East. Not every rescue requires a feminine touch. But in the Islamic Republic, which tolerates little public mixing of the genders, the 11 women here are breaking new ground and creating a model for cities across the country. They also represent a strain of pragmatic progressivism in Iran that is...

UNITED NATIONS -- The United States has refused to join 85 other heads of state and government in signing a statement that endorsed a 10-year-old U.N. plan to ensure every woman's right to education, health care, and choice about having children. President Bush's administration withheld its signature because the statement included a reference to "sexual rights." U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Kelly Ryan wrote to organizers of the statement that that the United States was committed to the Cairo plan of 1994 and "to the empowerment of women and the need to promote women's fullest enjoyment of universal human...

Having sex with corpses is now officially illegal in California after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill barring necrophilia, a spokeswoman said on Friday. The new legislation marks the culmination of a two-year drive to outlaw necrophilia in the state and will help prosecutors who have been stymied by the lack of an official ban on the practice, according to experts. "Nobody knows the full extent of the problem. ... But a handful of instances over the past decade is frequent enough to have a bill concerning it," said Tyler Ochoa, a professor at Santa Clara University School of Law...

Two reports by advocacy groups say the US government's opposition to abortion and young people's use of condoms infringe on reproductive rights and are out of step with attitudes across Latin America, which is reviewing efforts to slow population growth. One report, issued Monday by an international group of scholars from New York's Columbia University, criticizes US President George W. Bush's administration for "a sweeping, comprehensive attack on sexual rights." The Washington-based Catholics for a Free Choice issued results of polls in three Latin American countries that indicated the Vatican and the Bush administration are "out of step" for taking...

A discord-filled Latin American regional meeting held in Mexico City last week witnessed pro-abortion and pro-lesbian advocates take control of many government delegations, allegations of blackmail made against the United States, and the acceptance of a document that appears to support abortion, even though most Latin American countries recognize the right to life from the moment of conception. The outcome of the Ninth Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean left radical feminist advocates claiming a victory for their agenda and a defeat for the United States and its pro-life allies, including Nicaragua and El Salvador. The...