PRO-LIFE NEWS IN BRIEF

By Liz Townsend

Minnesota Health Insurance to Cover Unborn Babies

Unborn babies and their mothers will be able to receive health care coverage in Minnesota under the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP). The coverage, for low-income families, falls under a joint federal-state program, and Minnesota's expansion of the program was approved by the Bush administration August 6, the Associated Press (AP) reported.

SCHIP coverage is available to families who make up to 275% of the federal poverty level. The insurance will provide prenatal medical care to an estimated 3,700 low-income women, according to the AP. Three other states - - Illinois, Michigan, and Rhode Island - - also offer prenatal care under this program.

"Prenatal care is crucial to the health of both mother and child, and this change will allow Minnesota to offer prenatal care to thousands of additional pregnant mothers and their unborn children," said U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson in a press release. "Vital services during pregnancy can be a life-long determinant of health and we should do everything possible to make this care available to everyone."

"This is another step in the right direction in our efforts to foster a culture in which all human beings are respected and afforded the opportunity to grow, develop, and live," said Scott Fischbach, executive director of Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life. "This move empowers women and their unborn children to have safeguards that enhance their health care. It represents great progress on the part of the Bush and Pawlenty administrations as they build a culture that respects human life."

Female Abortion and Infanticide Contributes to Gender Imbalance in India

The ratio between males and females in India is tilting alarmingly in favor of boys, as untold numbers of baby girls are being aborted or killed soon after birth. The traditional preference for boys, who are expected to support the parents in their old age, as opposed to girls, who cost the family a great deal of money in dowries, often leads to death when a female is conceived.

"India has been trying to stop female infanticide and feticide for years," reported Jonathan Mann of CNN International. "It's outlawed selective abortions of females and the use of predictive medical procedures that make them possible.

"But it hasn't changed things much. The word ultrasound is still familiar, even to the poorest villagers, and so is the lack of women."

Francois Farah, who works in India, told Voice of America News that the gender ratio imbalance has been growing. "The problem of sex selection has gained increased importance, at least over the last 10 years," he said.

"On the average, you have 950 to 955 girls for 1,000 boys," Farah explained. "This is a universal sort of level. Between 1991 and 2001 we've seen situations in some states where this sex ratio had gone down [from] 950 to 900, to 850, even to 800, and in some districts below 800."

At a workshop held by the State Institute of Health and Family Welfare in May, Dr. MC Kapilashrami, director of the National Institute of Health and Family Welfare in Delhi, said that the gender imbalance will probably cause many social problems in years to come. "Kapilashrami directly attributed the fall to rampant misuse of ultrasound technology by vested interest to detect the gender of the foetus," the Times of India reported.

Individual women said that they face severe familial and societal pressure to dispose of their female children. "I wanted to keep the baby, but people around me said, 'You have three daughters. Why do you want to have yet another one?'" an unidentified woman told CNN International. "'How can I kill her,' I asked. They suggested giving the baby something that would kill her. So I got some tobacco leaf, mixed it with water and gave it to the baby. She died."

A gynecologist, identified as Dr. Geeta, told Voice of America News that she aborted her second child, who was a girl, since she had already given birth to one girl already. Despite her education level and professional confidence, she said she bowed to the stricture against making "a line of daughters" and to pressure from her in-laws for a grandson. After the abortion, she gave birth to a son.

She now feels immense regret for aborting her baby girl. "Soon after the termination, I felt that I've got rid of it," Dr. Geeta told Voice of America News. "But after some time, I thought that, no, it was not right. I felt that I should not bother about the in-laws or anybody in the society.

"Nobody can change the society. Alone, I cannot change the society. This mentality has to be changed, and it is not so easy."

Florida Man Convicted of Killing Wife and Unborn Child

After almost eight years of investigation, prosecutors finally charged Joseph Peck of Bradenton, Florida, with first-degree murder for killing his pregnant wife in October 1995. A jury convicted Peck September 10 and he was immediately sentenced to life in prison.

In the opening statement of the trial, prosecutors contended that Joseph Peck, 37, was unhappy that his wife was pregnant and angry because she refused to abort the baby, the Tampa Tribune reported. Jennifer Peck's family paid tribute to her love for her baby by engraving on her tombstone: "She left this life with life inside her."

There was no separate charge for the death of the unborn child. Florida law allows only a manslaughter charge when an "unborn quick child" is killed. Jennifer Peck's unborn baby was only 16 weeks old, which is too young for viability to be proven.

The body of Jennifer Peck, 24, was found October 29 in the trunk of her car outside a strip club in Tampa, according to the Tribune. Mrs. Peck had been struck in the head with a claw hammer, which was found in the car.

Joseph Peck said his wife had dropped him off at the airport on the evening of October 26, when he flew to Oklahoma to visit family, the St. Petersburg Times reported. During the next few days he left messages on their home answering machine. When questioned by police, Peck presented the tape to police as an alibi.

Although police continued to suspect Peck, the case was stalled for years while Peck served jail time in Oklahoma for kidnapping and raping a 16-year-old girl, according to the Times. However, in 1999, Peck's sister told police she found a bracelet among her brother's possessions that Peck had insisted his wife was wearing when he last saw her.

Police were then able to use more sophisticated tests to search for DNA evidence on a duffel bag owned by Joseph Peck. They discovered microscopic evidence of Jennifer Peck's blood, the Times reported.

Peck was charged with murder two days before he was due to be released from prison in May 2002.

Jennifer Peck's father, John Montroy, told the Tribune that her family is still mourning the loss of his daughter and grandchild.