The global pro-life movement has just scored a small, indirect victory.

For years the United States Agency for International Aid has supplied some African nations with contraceptives, some of which are distributed by Marie Stopes International, a prominent international abortion provider.

Now, USAID has directed Ghana, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe not to provide MSI with US-funded contraceptives. The reason given is that MSI has worked with the Chinese government’s implementation of its one-child policy. This policy has, notoriously, often been implemented through coercive abortion and sterilizations. According to the Kemp-Kasten Amendment

any organization that “supports or participates in the management of a program of coercive abortion or involuntary sterilization” is prohibited from receiving American foreign aid. This law . . . has been used since 2002 to deny funding to United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

Although opponents of contraception will not care much for USAID’s reassurance that “the same amount of US-donated contraceptives would be distributed in the African nations by other groups,” no pro-lifer can fail to applaud further stigmatization of China’s brutal program.

Virginian readers of First Things will be interested in the upcoming free lecture by Richard John Neuhaus at Roanoke College:

Barbarism, to paraphrase Christopher Dawson, is not a far-distant stage in the evolution of human society, but a perpetual possibility simmering under the surface of civilization. In no country on earth has barbarism erupted with more devastating force than in Somalia, a land of clashing creeds and ethnicities, murderous warlords, and, of course, those quintessential barbarians—pirates.

Partisanship is now (appropriately) at fever pitch, but some things should be beyond left and right. Among them is awed gratitude at the resilience of the American order. This is a nation where political reprisals take the form of unkind advertisements, and where the pirates illegally download Rocky III.

Thanks to Amanda for highlighting the relevant section from the New York Catholic bishops’ statement, “Our Cherished Right, Our Solemn Duty.”

The inalienable right to life of every innocent human person outweighs other concerns where Catholics may use prudential judgment, such as how best to meet the needs of the poor or to increase access to health care for all.

So, are Catholics getting the message?

Maybe. The most recent survey by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press reports that support for Sen. Obama among white non-Hispanic Catholics has been steadily declining. In early August, Obama and McCain were nearly even among these Catholics (45–44 percent for McCain). Since then, support for Obama has steadily declined. McCain now leads Obama 52–39.

So, support for the Obama candidacy has declined despite the addition of Joe Biden, a Catholic, to the ticket, despite increased support for Obama in almost all other demographic groups (with evangelicals a notable exception), and despite the concerted efforts of Doug Kmiec and company to persuade pro-life Catholics that Obama is actually the true pro-life candidate.

Well it certainly could have gone a lot worse for Gov. Palin. Apart from the few awkwardly evaded questions and the wince-worthy slogans, she acquitted herself well, allaying fears that she would prove an inarticulate ignoramus. She probably hasn’t convinced the crucial swing voters that she’s fully qualified, but she has shown them that they wouldn’t be voting for a potential disaster.

A further comment: It was refreshing to hear Gov. Palin exhort Americans to embrace fiscal prudence. This is a new talking point the McCain campaign should give a lot more air-time. So far, Republicans and Democrats alike have spoken almost exclusively about the blame due to distant, impersonal actors, and opined on what distant, impersonal actors ought to do to fix it. Leaders of free people should encourage them to shake off the feeling of powerless suspense and take as much initiative as they can to secure their own interests.

Speaking of which, a promising young writer named R.J. Neuhaus gives David Blankenhorn’s timely book Thrift: A Cyclopedia an appreciative mention in the While We’re At It section of our October issue. The book seems like a sound investment.

And speaking of sound investments. . .

Not wanting to be left out of the trend, it looks like bloggers now have their own set of ten commandments.

Christian bloggers who drive now have thirty rules to keep in mind.

The BBC reports more troubling news from India’s ongoing religious violence between Hindus and Christians:

Four people have been arrested in the eastern Indian state of Orissa in connection with the rape of a Catholic nun more than a month ago, police say.

At least one police officer has been suspended, officials say.

The 29-year-old nun lodged a complaint on 25 August alleging rape by a member of a Hindu mob in Kandhamal district.

Police are criticised for being slow to act - they say they have been trying to keep the peace in the area, which has seen weeks of Hindu-Christian violence. . . .

Although left-wing Maoist rebels in the state claimed responsibility for the killing, hard-line Hindu groups blamed the minority Christian community for the death.

More than 30 people have been killed in the violence and dozens of churches and Christian institutions have been vandalised. . . .

Clashes between Hindus and Christians began in Orissa in August when a Hindu religious leader was shot dead.

Attacks on Christians have also been reported in the southern states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.

Hindu groups have long accused Christian priests of bribing poor tribes and low-caste Hindus to convert to Christianity.

Christians say lower-caste Hindus convert willingly to escape the Hindu caste system.

This whole conflict seems to be rooted in misconception, prejudice, and hatred, and it’s hard to say how these long-standing issues might be rectified. Prayers, of course, are always welcome.

Last month, Iran’s parliament overwhelmingly approved a bill that would make apostasy (converting from Islam to another religion) punishable by death.

The Christian human rights group, Christian Solidarity Worldwide, has applauded the European Union for issuing a declaration that urges Iran to drop its draft apostasy bill.

“The European Union urges the Islamic Republic of Iran to reconsider its decision to examine the law in question, release all those who have been imprisoned because of their religious affiliation and allow all its citizens to exercise their freedom of religion or belief in full,” read the EU letter. The EU also expressed concerns over the arrests of members of religious minorities, including Iranian converts to Christianity and members of the Bahai community. The EU called for their “immediate” and “unconditional” release, and the end to all “forms of violence and discrimination against them.”

Last Fall, 138 Muslims leaders issued a letter, A Common Word Between Us and You, inviting “Christians to come together with us on the basis of what is common to us, which is also what is most essential to our faith and practice: the Two Commandments of love.” Quoting the Qur’an’s injunction, “Let there be no compulsion in religion,” the Muslim scholars tell us that this command ”clearly relates to the Second Commandment and to love of the neighbor of which justice and freedom of religion are a crucial part.”

Maybe the Mullahs in Iran didn’t get the letter. Or maybe they did and just don’t consider apostates their neighbor.