South Australia's Genesis Pregnancy Support are hosting their first ever Fundraising Dinner on Saturday 11th September 2010 in Fullarton, SA. 

The dinner aims to bring together like minded people, acknowledge the ongoing support of the organisation and raise the final amounts needed to purchase an ultrasound machine to use in conjunction with crisis pregnancy counselling.

Results in the USA show a 60 - 80% change in decision from aborting to keeping their babies after seeing an ultrasound of their foetus.

 A review of popular parenting and mental health websites has shown how, when it comes to dealing with postnatal depression, dads are often overlooked

The lack of a high quality mother and baby care facility for women suffering from a rare and usually short lived but devastating mental illness 'Thinking of killing their baby', means inappropriate treatment and possible loss of their child forever

 

77 per cent of the 300 pregnancy terminations performed yearly in NSW due to detected birth defects are associated with a chromosomal abnormality. The most common is Down syndrome and there has been a significant reduction in the birth of babies with this syndrome because of society's improved ability to weed them out.

Some American pro-lifers feel duped, like the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, arguing that federal courts would always be likely to rule in favour of legislation as opposed to Mr Obama's recently-signed executive order on abortion.This means that a bill can forbid public funds for abortions only by using the Hyde Amendment as a rider, and that anyway the executive order could be easily rescinded with the stroke of a pen.

Polish women are travelling to Britain for free abortions as a way of avoiding strict laws prohibiting terminations in their home country. SROM, a feminist organisation in Poland have been criticised for promoting 'abortion tourism'

The South  Korean government is concerned at the birth rate falling to near the world's lowest level (1.19 in 2008) and is introducing initiatives to encourage population growth. If unsuccessful, the population will shrink within a decade. Included in the initiatives is a crackdown on abortionists and a 'lights out' policy in offices to encourage them to go home. Both articles are sourced from overseas agencies and appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald

The father of a teenager who died from a RU486 abortion has written an open letter to Angia Jackson the woman who tweeted her abortion 'live'

New rules introduced by the UK's TV watchdog, will soon ban advertising by commercial abortion clinics

The ABC learned that Canberra  Hospital recommended a late-term abortion for a baby who was later born healthy. A 5 weeks-pregnant woman was told by a trainee doctor at the hospital that the baby had died, and given an abortion drug. A follow-up scan showed that the baby was still alive but had fluid on the brain, a condition probably caused by the drug. Despite six other specialist opinions that the baby would be born normal, a senior obstretician at Canberra Hospital continued to press the mother to terminate, even at 31 weeks pregnant. The woman decided to go ahead with the pregnancy and gave birth to a healthy son. She engaged a barrister who believes that the termination would have ended the possibility of any litigation against the hospital.  Unfortunately, crucial information , including the repeated recommendations for the termination, appears to be missing from the clinical notes that she applied for from the hospital.

Mr Bill Ferris, AO, speaking at the launch of a report prepared by the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Commonwealth Bank, says that future philanthropy lies with rich individuals rather than corporations. The study of 1200 Victorian and NSW Company Directors shows that 3 out of 5 serve on the board of not-for-profit organisations and most do not receive fees. Most concede that although that it's the hardest work that they do, it's also the most fulfilling. Most of Australia's few billionaires, however, do not seriously contribute in a philanthropic way according to Adele Horin's article in the Sydney Morning Herald, 24 February 2010 edition

The Conscience Laws and Healthcare Conference held in Melbourne last July was organised by the Doctors in Conscience group to examine the implications of the Victorian Abortion Law Reform Act 2008. Dr Lachlan Dunjey, one of the guest speakers, is a Perth GP who set up the organisation Medicine with Morality to unite doctors across Australia to lobby members of parliament on life issues including human cloning, euthanasia, abortion and the right to practice medicine according to conscience.

Other speakers included:- Victorian senator Julian McGauran; Jo Grainger, a lecturer and bioethicist at the Australian Catholic University School of Nursing; Nigel Preston, lead lawyer for the DLA Phillips Fox group in Melbourne; Martin Laverty, CEO of Catholic Health, Australia; Francis Sullivan, Secreatry general of the Federal AMA.

A small study in Los Angeles shows that a sex education class for teens that emphasises abstinence-only advice, whilst avoiding discussion of moralistic issues, can reduce sexual activity by nearly a third when compared with those that received no sex education. This article written by Thomas Maugh appeared in the February 3, 2010 Sydney Morning Herald

New laws will soon come into effect covering the use of child restraints in vehicles, but confusion reigns over which restraints may be safest for children up to the age of seven. Legislation decrees that age is the deciding factor but taller children with an eye level higher than the back seat may actually be in more danger according to the safety standards covering the manufacture of the child restraints. Shops selling restraints are also unable to advise parents on their choice as they too are unclear as to which  restraints may become obsolete under the new laws. Jessica Mahar writes for the February 10, 2010 edition of the Sydney Morning Herald.

An article entitled Child safety video shows restraint also appeared in NRMA's March/April 2010 edition of Open Road, promoting a new video that they have prepared on the correct fitting of child restraints. Other advice available on their website is: a Buyer's guide to child restraints; RTA fitting locations (NSW only); Types of restraints; Safety test results on a comparison study of both backward- and forward-facing restraints and also booster seats made by different manufacturers.

Natasha Stott-Despoja comments on the imminent changes to the government's national pregnancy hotline.  The new line which will commence 1 July 2010, will be expanded to focus on parenting services such as Sids N Kids, Post and Antenatal Depression Australia, Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Support and Bonnie Babes Foundation.

The new lobby group Pro Choice NSW have been supported by a number of Labor MPs to remove abortion from the criminal code, but the NSW Premier, Nathan Rees, says he has no plans to follow Victoria and ACT in decriminalising abortion. In these states, a woman may have an abortion for any reason at all, whereas in NSW, abortion is illegal unless it would prevent serious danger to a woman's health. This article, written by Alexandra Smith, appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald, August 19 2009.

Berlusconi Government has suspended the use of RU48, or mifepristone, in Italy on the grounds that it could endanger women's health or violate Italy's anti-abortion laws. The drug has bee approved by AIFA, the Italian pharmaceutical authority for use in hospitals under medical supervision as an alternative to surgical abortion up to the 49th day of pregnancy

An article by Babette Francis, representative of the International Coalition on Abortion/Breast cancer appearing in News Weekly October 31, 2009 describes a study on women in Turkey that have had abortions showing a 66 per cent increased risk of developing breast cancer

Findings from NZ research has raised questions about justifying abortions on the basis of mental health. Women reporting adverse reactions were up to 80% more likely than women not exposed to abortion to have mental problems.

 Anna Nevis describes the pain of miscarrying her child.

A new national sex education package is to be developed for Australian primary and high schools. Sydney's Catholic schools head Dan White is concerned that the curriculum may be used as a guide for children to gain access to contraception and abortion clinics

Research has found that one in three abortions at the Women's and Children's Hospital is performed on international students.

Sun Herald reporter Jessica Mahar describes how Ian and Jo Smith's family were 'brought together' by the birth of their third child Catherine Rose who has Down syndrome. Interestingly, the statistics show that, of the foetuses diagnosed with Down syndrome in 1995, 81% were born. This birth rate has dropped to 35% in 2005, as more terminations are performed.

 Women seeking abortions in Oklahoma are to be forced to reveal personal details such as the state of their relationships, number of children and race, which will be posted on an official website.

Babette Francis writes of a Canadian study, headed by professor of the paediatrics department of a Toronto hospital, Dr Prakesh Shah. The study demonstrates that women who aborted a baby in the first or second trimester ran a 35% greater risk of a low-birth-weight baby and a 36% greater risk of a pre-term baby in later pregnancies

 Sydney Morning Herald reporter Kathryn Wicks suggests that a lack of funding for behavioural therapy for children with autism may have been a contributing factor in Ebony's death

Stella Spencer tells her personal story of how being born with the genetic abnormality Triple X or Trisonomy X has affected her life. Although aware of her condition before her birth, Stella's parents decided, against all advice, not to have an abortion.

 Information sheet on the Triple X genetic abnormality published by Dutch support group Contactgroep Triple X Syndroom

 The ABC radio show 'Encounter' recently featured a discussion on Buddhism and Abortion

 Orbituary to Lady Nicky Chapman

Senator Ron Boswell welcomes Minister Smith's comments that the Rudd government would not be driven by President Obama's decision to lift the abortion ban on non-government organisations working in developing countries. He says that to start funding abortion in countries have never requested aid for this purpose at the expense of aid for initiatives such as medicine or clean water would be ludicrous.

Nine Network journalist Jane Hansen relates how her amniosentesis test led to the miscarriage of her healthy baby