NEWS IN BRIEF

By Liz Townsend

Man Allegedly Tries To Force Abortion By Poisoning

Police in O'Fallon, Missouri, arrested Michael Travis Bullock, 21, on charges of felony assault for allegedly putting ant killer in his pregnant girlfriend's drinks in an attempt to abort their baby, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

The 19-year-old unidentified woman is still pregnant, and tests show that the unborn baby is in good health. "So far, everything has checked out OK," O'Fallon police Capt. Jerry Schulte told the newspaper.

Bullock is accused of adding Spectracide Ant Shield in glasses of his girlfriend's Kool-Aid from September to the beginning of November, according to the Post-Dispatch. A friend of the couple alerted police to what Bullock was doing. He allegedly told several friends that he didn't want the baby.

Bullock could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

Korea Medical Association Endorses Withholding Care

New ethics guidelines issued by the South Korea Medical Association (KMA) November 14 endorsed the practice of withholding lifesaving treatment in order to "hasten" the death of a patient with an "incurable condition," the Yonhap news agency reported.

Euthanasia and assisted suicide are banned in Korea. However, Article 30 in the first detailed ethics manual issued by the KMA allows doctors to remove necessary treatment from a patient "who has no chances of reviving" if the patient or family makes a written request, according to the Korean Herald.

The ethics guideline received immediate criticism in Korea. An official of the Christian Council of Korea told Yonhap, "It amounts to murder."

KMA officials, however, defended the practice of withholding lifesaving treatment. "This guideline is to relieve the suffering of incurable patients in extreme distress and their family members by ending 'meaningless life-extending treatment,'" KMA Executive Director Lee Yoonsung told Yonhap. "It's clearly different from passive euthanasia."

Legal experts disagreed that this practice would be acceptable under Korea's law against euthanasia. "Regardless of whether it's passive or active, euthanasia is illegal," a lawyer told Yonhap.

"Choose Life" License Plates Upheld in Florida, Delayed in South Carolina

Florida's "Choose Life" license plates will continue to be sold, as a circuit court judge dismissed a pro-abortion lawsuit that claimed the plates were unconstitutional. However, in South Carolina, the license plates will not be available until a Planned Parenthood lawsuit is heard next year.

In the Florida case, the National Organization of Women, along with other plaintiffs, had asserted that the phrase "Choose Life" is from the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy, and therefore is an unconstitutional state endorsement of religion, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported. Leon County Circuit Judge Nikki Ann Clark announced November 21 that the plaintiffs failed to prove their case and dismissed the suit.

Since the plates went on sale in August 2000, over 25,000 have been sold, according to the Associated Press (AP). The money generated from their sale, about $668,000 so far, will go to organizations that promote and assist in adoptions.

Gov. Jeb Bush's press secretary, Elizabeth Hirst, praised Judge Clark's decision. "We have always believed this suit had no legal merit," she told the AP. "People make a personal choice to display the Choose Life license plate. It is their right as an individual."

South Carolinians will have to wait a long time before they can purchase the license plates. Planned Parenthood of South Carolina filed its suit after lawmakers refused to issue a pro- abortion license plate, the AP reported. The group alleged that the "Choose Life" plate violates the First Amendment because it expresses only one view.

"I can't believe that anyone would object to this," Attorney General Charlie Condon told the AP. "South Carolina wanted to be able to have an uplifting message of 'Choose Life' on license plates that South Carolinians would choose to have."