The girl had told her carers she wanted the termination and her parents had both consented. However, it was considered their consent was beyond their powers and a judge's declaration was needed.

Because of the urgency, Justice Margaret Wilson made the order in a special closed night court last week but did not release her written reasons until today.

The girl, 12, was 18 weeks pregnant and residing in a State Government-run public hospital.

Justice Wilson heard evidence from two psychiatrists and an obstetrician about the state of the child's mental health should the pregnancy not be terminated.

She noted it was thought the effect on her mental health would be far more serious and go beyond the normal dangers of childbirth. [..]

She also noted that the girl had the maturity of a nine-year-old.

In a TV ad supporting Measure 11 in South Dakota, Dr. Nathanson explains that he and his colleagues who founded NARAL created it to "export our pro-abortion mentality across the land." He also reveals that, "One of our strategies, in order to mislead the American people, was to deny what we knew to be true, that an abortion kills an existing human being."

"This was the greatest mistake of my life... and the greatest mistake in our nation's history," states Nathanson, who performed 75,000 abortions and at one point ran the nation's largest abortion clinic.

"For the first time in my life I really looked at that pile of goo at the side of the table, and all of a sudden I didn’t see her wonderful right to choose, and I didn't see the $600 wad of cash that I made in 15 minutes, and I couldn't think about what a great doctor I was because I took care of her problem. All I could see was somebody's son or daughter."

An estimated further 400 babies who are tested but found not to have the condition die as a result of a miscarriage, say Prof. Sue Buckley and Frank Buckley of Down Syndrome Education International (DownsEd), a charity that opposes genetic screening and the abortion of babies who test positive.[..]

The DownsEd report says that, according to the best available evidence, the risk of pregnancy loss resulting from amniocentesis is 1% (one child in 100) and in the case of CVS, 2% (one child in 50).

But it also notes other factors, such as the level of experience of those carrying out the tests: "Studies have observed loss rates following amniocentesis that are 6 to 8 times higher among less experienced practitioners than among experienced practitioners."

Moreover, the study estimates that 95% of "positive" screens (6,660 out of 7,000) actually are wrong, meaning that a far higher number of women go on to have the invasive – and potentially risky – diagnostic tests than necessary.

The authors say they "do not consider a diagnosis of Down syndrome to be a sufficient reason to justify termination and so disagree with the basic premise for prenatal screening for Down syndrome. Harming babies who do not have Down syndrome in the process seems to us unjustifiable."

Nicholas Provenzo condemns Palin for the birth of her baby Trig, who has Down syndrome. Provenzo, who writes for the Center for the Advancement of Capitalism, not only bashes her for allowing Trig to be born, but says she should have made the so-called morally justifiable decision to kill him in an abortion.[..]

"Like many, I am troubled by the implications of Alaska governor and Republican Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin's decision to knowingly give birth to a child disabled with Down syndrome," Provenzo writes.

"Given that Palin's decision is being celebrated in some quarters, it is crucial to reaffirm the morality of aborting a fetus diagnosed with Down syndrome (or by extension, any unborn fetus)-a freedom that anti-abortion advocates seek to deny," he adds.

Provenzo advocates not only a discriminatory, but apparently a pro-eugenics view of the disabled that rivals that of Nazi Germany.

"A parent has a moral obligation to provide for his or her children until these children are equipped to provide for themselves," he contends. "Because a person afflicted with Down syndrome is only capable of being marginally productive (if at all) and requires constant care and supervision, unless a parent enjoys the wealth to provide for the lifetime of assistance that their child will require, they are essentially stranding the cost of their child's life upon others."

Police said a school administrator discovered the baby boy screaming inside the garbage can Tuesday afternoon with his umbilical cord still attached.

The baby seemed to be in excellent condition. He also appeared to have been carried to full term, said Capt. Victor Rangel, a Phoenix Fire Department spokesman.

Emergency crews took the newborn to St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center. The baby has since been placed in custody with state Child Protective Services, said Sgt. Andy Hill, a Phoenix police spokesman.

Phoenix police said the 14-year-old mother gave birth to the child inside the administration building at Osborn Middle School.

After weeks of investigation, a family court judge in the Argentinean province of Mendoza blocked a request by a woman that her 12 year-old daughter, who became pregnant through rape, be forced to undergo an abortion. The girl had expressed her desire to keep the baby and doctors testified an abortion would have carried serious medical and psychological risks.

Judge German Ferrer told reporters the abortion would not be going forward and announced measures to protect the girl and her baby. "The fetus a developing person," he said. The girl was raped by her step-father, who is now in police custody.

Ferrer said guardianship of the girl would be granted to her grandmother, who did not want her to undergo an abortion either.

He ordered local officials to ensure the girl would be able to continue her education during her pregnancy, and he asked the Ministry of Social Development, which is providing her housing, to also provide her with psychiatric and psychological care both during and after the pregnancy.

He also ordered she be provided a subsidy to help with grocery and other expenses for her and the baby.

IPPF.. recently issued a primer to help affiliated "Member Associations" and abortion-rights activists navigate abortion laws around the world. In addition, the 87-page publication provides guidance on how "to advocate for the removal of restrictions" on abortion, such as by arguing that international treaties should be interpreted broadly to trump national laws.The primer, entitled "Access to Safe Abortion: A Tool for Assessing Legal and Other Obstacles," claims that international legal support for abortion "can be found in numerous international treaties and other instruments" as well as in customary international law, which is non-treaty law "that is established from the practices and beliefs of nations" evolving over time.

66-year-old Thomas VanderWoude and his 20-year-old son Joseph, who has Down syndrome and who is the youngest of seven sons, were working in their yard in Nokesville, VA when Joseph fell through a septic tank cover that had suddenly collapsed. VanderWoude immediately jumped in after his son and managed to hold his son's head above the surface, saving his life.

By the time two men finally pulled Thomas out of the tank, he had been underwater for as long as 20 minutes. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

VanderWoude's son Joseph was in critical condition at Prince William hospital as he fought infection for several days, but recently began to improve.

According to the Telegraph, prosecutor Michael Chambers explained to the court how Joanne Hill's husband had refused to give four-year old Naomi up for adoption, despite Joanne's inability to accept the fact that her daughter had cerebral palsy. He recounted the evening of the murder, November 26, 2007: "When the bath was full she told Naomi she was having a bath, but Naomi didn't want one. The defendant carried her upstairs and undressed her."

"The defendant put her in the bath and drowned her by holding her head under the water for a long time until she was dead."

Joshua W. Figler, 24, is accused of slamming his 20-year-old girlfriend's head into a refrigerator after she refused his demand to get an abortion.[..]

According to the Berkshire Eagle newspaper, Pittsfield police officer Cheryl Belknap indicated Figler learned about the woman's pregnancy on Saturday and did not want her to keep the baby.

"(She) wants to keep the baby and refuses to get an abortion," said Belknap.

The officer indicated Figler became "more frustrated and aggressive" after learning about the pregnancy.

She told the newspaper Figler pushed the woman off their bed on Monday night, and then Figler grabbed the woman by the hair and slammed her head into the appliance twice on Wednesday morning.

Dr. Andre Lalonde, executive vice-president of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC), told the Globe and Mail yesterday, "Palin's decision to keep her baby, knowing he would be born with the condition, may inadvertently influence other women who may lack the necessary emotional and financial support to do the same."

"The worry is that this will have an implication for abortion issues in Canada," he said.

Under the facade of "freedom to choose", Lalonde said that "popular messages" about women like Palin, who choose not to kill their unborn children, "could have detrimental effects on women and their families."

A Santa Clara County sexual predator impregnated his 13-year-old stepdaughter, forced her to undergo a late-term abortion, then continued to molest her for another seven months until the child's mother discovered the abuse and contacted police, the Yes on Proposition 4 Campaign revealed yesterday.

Despite two visits to a Planned Parenthood clinic and a surgical abortion at San Francisco General Hospital, no healthcare provider bothered to inform law enforcement, the campaign said in a news release.

"This heart-rending and tragic real-life case illustrates better than any theoretical argument why Proposition 4 is so desperately needed in California," said Katie Short, a campaign spokeswoman. "Had Proposition 4 been in place, the victim's mother would have learned of the pregnancy and been there for her daughter. She would have contacted law enforcement right away, and spared her daughter months more of abuse. Think about it: how long would this abuse have continued – or even been inflicted on this victim's younger sister or other young girls -- had the mother not happened to find out?"

"Obviously, Californians cannot rely on assurances from abortion providers that they are protecting children," she added. "Are there any predators in jail right now because of a report from Planned Parenthood?"

During Sunday night's MTV Video Music Awards, host Russell Brand made fun of young stars, like the Jonas Brothers, for wearing promise rings as a pledge to remain sexually abstinent until marriage.

American Idol winner Jordin Sparks, who also has taken a purity pledge, came to their defense.

"It's not bad to wear a promise ring because not everyone - guy or girl - wants to be a slut," she said to the packed auditorium.

The sanctuary, which will include a chapel and a burial site for the remains of aborted fetuses, is "the option that we are offering to give hope and a way out for those people who, having committed an act without considering the consequences, realize their error, and therefore can return to the communion of the Church," the rector of the city's Old Basilica de Guadalupe, Agustín Rivera, told the Spanish news agency EFE

The woman was loaded into an ambulance outside Planned Parenthood while pro-lifer Pam McCabe of Lincoln Right to Life snapped photos. The injured woman was transported to Bryan LGH East Medical Center at 10:45 a.m. Abortionist C.J. La Benz followed the ambulance to the hospital.

Because of the medical emergency, four or five of the ten abortion patients that arrived at Planned Parenthood Thursday morning were sent home without abortions. McCabe said that least one additional woman turned away from abortion clinic before the emergency.

After months of reflection and prayer, friends say, the Palins, who are Christians, had come to believe God had chosen to send them Trig.

Later that day, Palin sent an e-mail message to her relatives and close friends about her new son, Bruce said. She signed it, "Trig's Creator, Your Heavenly Father."

"Many people will express sympathy, but you don't want or need that, because Trig will be a joy," Palin wrote. She added, "Children are the most precious and promising ingredient in this mixed-up world you live in down there on Earth. Trig is no different, except he has one extra chromosome."

Thick incense smoke filled the gilded, elaborately carved temple. The 50-year-old woman knelt down and bowed before a table piled with plastic toys and baby bottles.

Clasping her hands in supplication, Lin Shu-wen uttered a short prayer for the two abortions she had more than 20 years ago. For, as it reads in Chinese on a small altar nearby, "the babies prevented by fate from ever being tied to their parents."

The retired history teacher is one of scores of women who came to Ching Shui Temple in Taipei over the last month to make similar prayers. With abortion becoming less taboo in Taiwan, several dozen Buddhist and Taoist temples offered a "baby souls mourning" service during ghost month, a time when Taiwanese honor wandering ghosts in the hope they will be placated and cease to haunt the living.

If I were Joe Biden, I would be very, very afraid.

Palin opposes abortion and rejects the view that pregnancies caused by rape and incest should be exceptions.

Cindy McCain tells ABC's "Good Morning America" that "I don't agree with that aspect, but I do respect her for her views."

Palin has opposed funding sex-education programs in Alaska.

Cindy McCain tells ABC that she advocated abstinence as a part of sex education at her children's school. "I believe that it's twofold and I think all of it should be taught."

"I've been watching the news all morning, like everyone else - and (I) keep hearing about the issues related to 'teen pregnancy.' ... Well, I think the real problem comes from the fact that we are taking the focus off of getting to know Sarah Palin and her political views, and what she can do to make our country a less destructive place," Lohan wrote.

The case involves a girl identified publicly only as "Yesenia" who is six weeks pregnant after allegedly being raped first by her brother-in-law and later by a man identified only as "a mechanic." The child's mother brought the case to the attention of authorities.

On Friday, Aug. 29, the state prosecutor in Tijuana announced that "Yesenia's" petition for a legal abortion had been approved.

Whether she and her mother will be able to find a physician willing to abort the unborn baby remains less clear.

In a section called "Preserving Our Values," the platform reads:

We all have a moral obligation to assist, not to penalize, women struggling with the challenges of an unplanned pregnancy. At its core, abortion is a fundamental assault on the sanctity of innocent human life. Women deserve better than abortion. Every effort should be made to work with women considering abortion to enable and empower them to choose life. We salute those who provide them alternatives, including pregnancy care centers, and we take pride in the tremendous increase in adoptions that has followed Republican legislative initiatives.[..]

The platform also embraces abstinence education as a replacement for sex-ed programs:

We renew our call for replacing "family planning" programs for teens with increased funding for abstinence education, which teaches abstinence until marriage as the responsible and expected standard of behavior. Abstinence from sexual activity is the only protection that is 100 percent effective against out-of-wedlock pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS when transmitted sexually.

We oppose school-based clinics that provide referrals, counseling, and related services for abortion and contraception. Schools should not ask children to answer offensive or intrusive personal nonacademic questionnaires without parental consent. It is not the role of the teacher or school administration to recommend or require the use of psychotropic medications that must be prescribed by a physician.

Under the bill, which has the support of Premier John Brumby but not some members of his cabinet, abortions will be decriminalised up to 24 weeks and after that will be legal if approved by at least two doctors.[..]

Professor Clark said he would address the meeting from a scientific and surgical perspective, and as the father of five children. "I am not an obstetrician and I am not an ethicist, but I am a brain scientist and a senior surgeon with a long experience in medicine," he said.

"I believe there is a better solution than the proposed legislation being put forward, for the welfare of the mother and the child if it survives, for the community as a whole and for the father."I took a Hippocratic oath to preserve life. I am not anti-abortion. There are times when regretfully it has to be carried out. But I am not in favour of the proposed legislation that has been put forward."

Bristol Palin, one of Alaska Gov. Palin's five children with her husband, Todd, is about five months pregnant and is going to keep the child and marry the father, the Palins said in a statement released by the campaign of Republican presidential candidate John McCain.

Bristol Palin made the decision on her own to keep the baby, McCain aides said.

"We have been blessed with five wonderful children who we love with all our heart and mean everything to us," the Palins' statement said.

"Our beautiful daughter Bristol came to us with news that as parents we knew would make her grow up faster than we had ever planned. As Bristol faces the responsibilities of adulthood, she knows she has our unconditional love and support," the Palins said.

Bristol and the young man she will marry are going to realize very quickly the difficulties of raising a child, which is why they will have the love and support of our entire family.