In Philadelphia, the final chapter in the legal process
concerning America’s most notorious abortionist has concluded, with Dr Kermit
Gosnell being sentenced to 30 years in jail for illegally dispensing
prescription drugs. Gosnell charged $20 per prescription and once wrote 200
such prescriptions in a single night. His clinic was raided in 2010 after a
tip-off regarding the prescriptions, but officials found a veritable “house of
horrors”. [Warning: the rest of this paragraph may be disturbing]. Gosnell
regularly performed late term abortions; employed unqualified staff and rarely
supervised them; the clinic was contaminated with “noxious liquids”; he repeatedly
re-used disposable clinical instruments (leading to an increase in sexually
transmitted diseases in the area); he had at least one mother die under his
care; he routinely ‘botched’ late abortions so that the baby was born alive,
but then killed it anyway; and he kept parts of aborted babies in
various containers around the clinic. Gosnell is already serving three
consecutive life sentences for first degree murder.
The upper house of Belgium’s Parliament has passed a bill
that permits euthanasia for children. The law allows such euthanasia only in
highly restricted circumstances, but critics point out that Belgium’s law
permitting adult euthanasia only allowed euthanasia in cases of
life-threatening physical impairment, yet euthanasia has since been carried out
both for severe mental conditions (e.g. depression) and for
non-life-threatening physical conditions (e.g. arthritis). Meanwhile, the UK
Supreme Court is debating whether the prohibition on euthanasia under UK law is
incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
The argument over the UK’s new Injunctions to Prevent
Nuisance and Annoyance (IPNAs), which are designed to be “low level ASBOs””,
has reached higher levels. A former Director of Public Prosecutions warned that
the legislation could lead to “gross state interference with basic freedoms”;
for example, “a lone individual standing outside a bank with a sign objecting to the bank’s role in the
financial crisis” could be deemed “capable of causing nuisance and annoyance”,
resulting in an IPNA. A Home Office minister rejected the criticisms as
“nonsense”, saying that judges would grant the orders only when it was “just and
convenient” to do so; but a lobbying group consisting of Christian and civil
liberties groups responded that this legal criterion is “even more meaningless”
than the IPNA criterion.
A protest march by Christians in Delhi, heading for an
arranged meeting with the Prime Minister, was charged by police who beat
participants including priests and nuns and also used water cannon. The protest
was against a law that provides economic incentives to Dalit (low-caste) Hindus
but explicitly denies them to Dalit Muslims and Christians. The Archbishop of
Delhi was among those arrested and detained for a few hours.
Pope Francis has once again made a statement that seems
radical, coming from the head of one of the world’s largest institutions. He
spoke out in favour of prophets (those who listen to the words of God; who read
the spirit of the times; and who know how to move forward), who keep the
promise of God alive; see the suffering of the people; and bring us the
strength to look ahead. But he then added that where there is no prophecy, the
emptiness that is created gets filled by clericalism
In sport, Arsenal and Tottenham lost their weekend Premier
League matches by a combined total of 11 goals to 3. Luis Suarez of Liverpool
(Tottenham’s opponents) has now scored more league goals this season than the
entire Tottenham team. Tottenham responded by sacking their manager; he becomes
the third Premier League manager to be sacked in fifteen days.
And finally, for the man who has everything this Christmas,
Harrods are selling a gold-plated Xbox One for a mere ₤6,000. Anyone purchasing
a gold-plated Xbox on eBay is advised to read the small print very carefully.
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