MODESTO, California, JAN. 15, 2005 (Zenit.org).- In spite of the popular image of tanned California teen-agers, new laws make it easier to have an abortion that to get a tan in the Golden State. A report Jan. 2 in the Modesto Bee newspaper explained that a new law prohibits tanning salons for those under 14, while those aged 14-18 will need parental permission.
By contrast, a Jan. 3 report by LifeNews.com informed readers that California Attorney General Bill Lockyear defended a law saying parents cannot be told when their teen-age children absent themselves from school to have an abortion.
Such contradictions are not limited to the United States. On Nov. 7 the London Daily Telegraph reported on an attempt, later rejected, by British parliamentarian David Hinchcliffe to introduce a total ban on smacking children. In 1990, Hinchcliffe opposed an amendment to a law that sought to reduce the legal limit for abortion from 24 weeks to 18 weeks, added the Telegraph.
In fact, the newspaper commented that of the 75 members of Parliament who voted in favor a smacking ban, 14 were present in the 1990 debate, and every one of them had voted in favor of abortion up to 24 weeks. As well, most had voted in favor of provisions making it legal to kill an unborn handicapped child right up to the point of birth.