Abortion Rights in India

The question Indians are asking is: Do parents have the right to choose perfect unborn babies, or has the state overstepped its jurisdiction?

The couple Nikita and Haresh Mehta challenged a 37-year-old abortion law when doctors detected a "fair chance" of the child being born with a congenital handicap.

It would need a pacemaker from birth and the Mehtas decided they did not want the child to be born.

But Indian law does not allow abortion after 20 weeks unless there is a health risk to the mother.

The couple must now regret going to the court for a decision that will affect them for the rest of their lives.

They could have done it quietly anywhere in the thousands of rural clinics where abortions are carried out in large numbers.

A report from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, a leading government institute and hospital in Delhi, reported that one-third to almost half of women have had at least one induced abortion under unsafe conditions.

Girls are considered a burden for life and sex selection leading to female foeticide is the primary reason for abortions.

It is a myth that it only happens in India's illiterate villages - middle class India is among the worst perpetrators of female foeticide as they can afford to have sonograms and other sex-determination tests.

A study by the British medical journal Lancet found that in the past 20 years India has lost 10 million girls.

Prenatal sex determination and selective abortion account for over 600,000 missing girls, while 80,000 mothers die during abortions every year.

Though there are strict laws against sex determination and illegal abortions, like almost everything in India there are ways to get around the system.

Even though ultrasound machines should be registered with government agencies, very few are. Today's machines are now so portable and easy to operate that they have proliferated every part of the country.

In Nikita's case, the state does not have the social structure to provide lifetime support to children born with congenial and terminal problems.

It is the sole responsibility of the parents who eventually endure the huge emotional and financial burden of bringing up children. So why are they forcing a decision on the parents who might have to witness the slow death of their child?

Topless PETA protestors arrested

The topless women from animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) were arrested this afternoon while protesting outside the CBD restaurant over KFC's alleged treatment of chickens in factories and slaughterhouses.

The women - naked apart from lacy, yellow bikini bottoms - were inside a large cage, holding signs that read "Chicks Agree: Boycott KFC".

One of the protesters claimed they were "roughly-handled" by police, and said this was due to increased police powers, which came into force on July 1 and will remain in place until the 31st.

Under the laws, emergency and rural fire service volunteers have the right to move on people deemed to be causing "inconvenience or annoyance" to pilgrims during WYD celebrations and face fines of up to $5500.

But NSW police, who said the protesters were "causing a stir among passers-by", denied using any new powers on the KFC protesters.


The three women - Ms Fruno, 22, Fawn Porter, 20, and Carla Lobos, 32 - protested for about 40 minutes before being arrested about 1pm (AEST).

"People were shocked, but we think we went a long way in educating people about the way KFC treats its chickens," Ms Fruno said.

The protest follows former Baywatch babe and PETA supporter Pamela Anderson's (non-topless) protest at a Gold Coast KFC last week and is part of a four-year global campaign against the fast food chain over the way chickens are raised, slaughtered and transported.

Convertible Bugatti Veyron

The rumours are about to become a reality: a convertible Bugatti Veyron debuts in a few weeks.

Due to arrive at the Pebble Beach Concourse d'Elegance on 17 August, the targa-style supercar will be known as the Grand Sport version.

Although the open-air car will feature a removable hardtop, a fabric cover can take its place if the weather changes while you're driving around in your $2.25-million beast.

Chopping the bit of aerodynamically-essential roof has also resulted in the technicians at Bugatti having to reinforce the chassis, but the new roof has been developed so as to prevent a draft inside.

And in keeping with the Veyron legend, the Grand Sport is one of fastest open top cars, even though the top speed is limited to just 347km/h.

You'll have to be even faster if you want to snap one up — just 80 cars will be built.

Having trouble keeping your toupee on? Don't buy a Bugatti.

Cindy McCain to go topless?

Yesterday evening presidential candidate John McCain took part in the Sturgis Rally 2008 at Buffalo Chip in South Dakota, an annual tribute to veterans. The candidate was so excited, he encouraged his wife to participate in the festivities: "I told her with a little luck, she could be the only woman ever to serve as both the first lady and Miss Buffalo Chip."

The Miss Buffalo Chip contest is essentially a topless beauty pageant. And occasionally bottomless, too.

"During a drenching rain Wednesday night, the contest broke up into smaller groups and one woman wound up dancing naked on a bar top. Her boyfriend/husband saw her and angrily dragged her away as she struggled to put her pants back on." - ESPN's Jim Caple.

So will Cindy McCain go topless? Not very likely. She doesn't seem to be slutty type, or the type to be promoting feminist topfreedom.