Italy Approves Abortion Pill
Posted in Main Blog (All Posts) on August 1st, 2009 4:42 am by HL
In the face of strong conservative Catholic opposition, Italy has finally approved use of the RU486 abortion drug—a pill that can abort a fetus up to the seventh week of pregnancy. The pill was introduced 20 years ago in France, but it has seemingly taken those 20 years for Italy to come to terms with women’s reproductive rights.
The Guardian:
Italy’s health and drugs authorities have approved the use of the abortion drug RU486, drawing immediate protests by the Vatican.
The Italian Drug Agency ruled, after a meeting which ended last night, that the drug cannot be sold in [pharmacies] but can be administered only by doctors in a hospital. The agency said the pill can only be taken up to the seventh week of pregnancy.
The RU486 was first introduced in France almost 20 years ago and is available in several other European countries. But approval in Italy has been held up by the Catholic church, which opposes abortion and contraception.
However, Italy allows surgical abortions in hospitals and the use of the morning-after pill.
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The Bolivian government has outlawed the use of all animals, wild or domestic, in circuses. The ban was proposed after activists documented the widespread abuse of animals in circuses that operated in the country.
The Guardian:
Bolivia has enacted what animal rights activists are calling the world’s first ban on all animals in circuses.
A handful of other countries have banned the use of wild animals in circuses, but the Bolivian ban includes domestic animals as well.
The law, which states that the use of animals in circuses “constitutes an act of cruelty”, took effect on 1 July with operators given a year to comply, according to the bill’s sponsor, Ximena Flores.
The law was proposed after an undercover investigation by the nonprofit-making London-based group Animal Defenders International (ADI) found widespread abuse in circuses operating in Bolivia.
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