Russia Fights Demographic Decline with Honors for Large Families
The Order of Parental Glory marks the latest attempt of the Russian Federation to halt the demographic free fall into which alcoholism, AIDS, and abortion have dropped its population,
Along with a cash prize of 50,000 rubles, the Order is presented to families who give birth to, or adopt, at least four children, and meet a host of other criteria that demonstrate the children are being raised in a wholesome environment.
In a ceremony on June 1, 2009, President Medvedev awarded the Order of Parental Glory to families from various provinces of Russia. “You have created happy, unique families—big, friendly families—and I want to thank all of you,” Medvedev praised. This ceremony follows two years of a concerted campaign to raise the birthrate in Russia. Since declaring 2007 “Year of the Child,” and 2008 “Year of the Family,” the birthrate in Russia has risen measurably (eight percent in 2002, six percent in 2008).
“We must strive to make the humane treatment of children and the aspiration to create full-fledged, big families measurements of the development of our society, our state,” President Medvedev asserted. With the Russian population poised to drop from l40 million to just over 100 million by 2050, it seems they certainly must.
See the source: Steve Gutterman, “Russia’s Medvedev honors big families,” Associated Press, 1 June 2009 http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/AleqM5iBcRKVgs-vL6P_wFtX9AaHNotBozgD98IOS180.
Swedish Health Officials Uphold Sex-Selective Abortion
The National Board of Health and Welfare in Sweden has ruled that sex-selective abortions are not illegal, despite evidence that they are happening.
The board ruled that current national law in Sweden does not prohibit abortions based on the gender of the unborn child and, as a result, they can’t be stopped.
Doctors expressed their concerns to the board and asked them to craft guidelines for how to handle future cases. Sveriges Television indicates the Board ruled sex-selective abortions are allowed up to 18 weeks into the pregnancy.
In March, a local newspaper indicated that, since gender based abortions are against the law in Norway, some pregnant Norwegian women who are not happy with the sex of their baby are going to Sweden to have the child aborted.
Norway has a ban in place that prohibits identifying the gender of their unborn child before 12 weeks of pregnancy. Both Norway and Denmark will not allow an abortion after 12 weeks, but in Sweden the limit is 18 weeks, encouraging many women to simply cross the border if the gender of their unborn child is supposedly the wrong one.
Sex-selective abortions are a common problem in Asian nations like India and China, but the phenomenon is reportedly spreading to other continents, including the United States.
See the source: Steven Ertelt, “Sweden National Board of
Health Rules Sex-Selection Abortions Not Illegal,” LifeNews.com,
12 May 2009, http://www.lifenews.com/int1188.html
Pro-Lifers Provide Sanity in Slovakia
Informed consent before abortion has been adopted by the Slovak Parliament, establishing a mandatory counseling requirement, a three day waiting period, and mandatory parental guardian consent requirements for minors within the current Slovak abortion law.
A couple of days before the vote, more than 80 organizations and 53 individuals from all over the world, alerted by the Familiokratos Coalition, complimented all Slovak policy makers, stressing that: “the right to life is consistent with the legal rights afforded to mother and child by such binding international instruments as the Convention on the Rights of the Child, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, European Convention of Human Rights, and European Social Charter;” and that “Informed consent laws have been internationally accepted as not placing an undue burden on a woman seeking to procure an abortion. Nor do reflection periods increase health risks to women seeking abortions.”
They reminded the lawmakers that “as many as 85% of women surveyed feel that they were misinformed or denied relevant information during their pre· abortion counseling,” and that, “while international abortion groups seek to put pressure on this Parliament to restrict a woman’s choice, it is paramount that abortion is not a human right under European law and that individual States have the sole authority to determine the protections they wish to afford to life and to women’s health.”
The amendment has been adopted by 87 Members of Parliament voting for and only 7 against.
See the source: “SLOVAKIA: Worldwide Prolife Support to Slovak Parliament Defeats Abortionists,” Christian Newswire, 22 June 2009
