By Michael Kinsalla, Catholic Register Special

A 10-year-old Paraguayan girl is at the centre of an international controversy over “reproductive rights” after she was allegedly raped and impregnated by her stepfather. All cases of child abuse are emotionally contentious and morally outrageous but, as is often the case with vulnerable young women and children, this girl is now a pawn in the wider gambit of the pro-abortion lobby.

MEXICO CITY - Mexico's Supreme Court has declared state-level laws, defining marriage only as the union of a man and a woman, discriminatory and unconstitutional. The decision, in effect, legalizes same-sex marriages in all 31 of the country's states.

Organizers of a controversial anti-abortion campaign will not back down despite protests about the graphic nature of postcards that have been delivered to mailboxes in Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto.

WASHINGTON - An Associated Press survey of abortion in the United States this decade has revealed that the number of abortions has gone down by 12 per cent since 2010.

Pope Francis met Chilean President Michelle Bachelet, while outside in St. Peter’s Square anti-abortion protesters drew attention to one of the most controversial topics up for discussion between the two leaders June 5.

Once, across a crowded meeting room, I recognized a face. Our eyes locked. Weeks earlier, this person and I had attended the same retreat. We both knew we needed to steal away and talk, as soon as possible.

When the opportunity came, each of us took it immediately. We found a quiet place. We talked as though we’d known each other for years. “I had to speak to you,” said my new old friend. “I feel as though we met in Narnia, and back here in the regular world I have to touch you to know it was real.” I understood instantly.  

VATICAN CITY - Abortion, abandoning migrants at sea, unsafe working conditions, malnutrition, terrorism and euthanasia are all "attacks on life," said Pope Francis.

The San Francisco priest who sparked controversy earlier this year by barring altar girls has been replaced as chaplain of the church’s Catholic grade school.

TORONTO - Pro-life groups at Ontario universities have gained an influential ally in their fight for free speech on campus.
The Ontario Civil Liberties Association (OCLA) released a position paper on April 29 opposing “the evident statutory and institutional bias that exists in Ontario against the free-expression rights of pro-life campaigners.”

TORONTO - Ontario is violating basic principles of democracy and Canada’s international treaty obligations by keeping abortion statistics secret, according to the Ontario Civil Liberties Association.

TORONTO - With 100,000 pink and blue flags littered across the front lawn of Queen’s Park representing Canada’s annual abortion toll, a blogger and a Protestant civil rights organization announced a constitutional challenge to Ontario freedom of information laws that keep all abortion statistics secret.

OTTAWA - With legalized euthanasia looming large over the House of Commons, a Tory backbencher has tabled a motion to affirm the right of free votes on matters of conscience.

VATICAN CITY - Mercy is at the heart of the Church's credibility and the Church has a duty to profess it and live it, Pope Francis said in a document that officially proclaims the 2015-2016 extraordinary Holy Year of Mercy.

BAYAMO, Cuba - In 2004, with the divorce rate looming around 70 percent in Cuba, the Catholic Church called for a "year of the family."

Already battle scarred in conflict with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario over the college’s insistence that doctors must actively help patients access abortion, morning-after pills, chemical contraception, hysterectomies and vasectomies, Dr. Agnes Tanguay is not backing away from a fight for her right to practise medicine according to her conscience.