Pro-Life News from the SPUC

These news items were collated and sent in an e-mail from SPUC (www.spuc.org.uk)

1. A British couple who were advised to abort their unborn child after doctors said he was severely disabled have had a baby who is not disabled. Heather O'Connor and Jamie Bramley were told by doctors at St Mary's Hospital, Manchester, that their baby had brain defects. Mr Bramley said: "They said the scan was 99% reliable and recommended abortion. We were distraught. I asked for further investigations, but the doctor said he was rarely wrong." The couple decided to go ahead with the pregnancy after seeking a second opinion at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital in Sheffield, where a professor said that he believed the child's brain was normal. [Manchester Evening News, 23 July]

2. The number of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) is continuing to rise in Britain, according to the latest figures from the Health Protection Agency... ...Overall there is a two percent rise in the diagnoses of STIs, with an especially high rate among young people and gay men. Professor Pat Troop, chief executive of the Health Protection Agency, said: "There is mixed news in these figures. Some infections now appear to be slowing down. But there is no room for complacency. The picture for young people remains particularly worrying." [BBC, 20 July]