Life Ethics:

• Deaths after abortion pill to be studied by officials | Federal drug regulators have discovered that all four women in this country who died after taking an abortion pill suffered from a rare and highly lethal bacterial infection, a finding that is leading to new scrutiny of the drug's safety. (The New York Times)
• Earlier: Review of 'Plan B' pill is faulted | Critics of the FDA's handling of the issue said the report confirmed their view that the agency had allowed politics to trump science. (Washington Post)
• Cloning pioneer battles ethics charges | Everything seemed so bright for pioneering South Korean stem cell scientist Hwang Woo-suk just a few weeks ago after two major breakthroughs this year. Now the man who made world headlines by cloning a dog faces a swirl of allegations over the ethics of his team's work. (Reuters)

Vatican says 'no gay seminarians':

• In strong terms, Rome is to ban gays as priests | A new Vatican document excludes from the priesthood most gay men, with few exceptions, banning in strong and specific language candidates "who are actively homosexual, have deep-seated homosexual tendencies, or support the so-called 'gay culture.' " (The New York Times)
• Vatican closes door on gay seminarians | The Vatican is toughening its stand against gay candidates for the priesthood, specifying in a new document that even men with "transitory" homosexual tendencies must overcome their urges for at least three years before entering the clergy. (Associated Press)
• Vatican says active gays not welcome in priesthood | Practising homosexuals should be barred from entering the Roman Catholic priesthood, the Vatican says, taking a strict line on the place of gays in the clergy, an issue that has divided the faithful worldwide. (Reuters)