Dignitas director says suicide is marvellous, marvellous

Forget the reassurances given to you by euthanasia advocates: "only in the case of terminal illness", "only for people in unbearable pain", "just for the hard cases." Yes, well we've heard that before, haven't we?

Ludwig Minelli, the director of Dignitas, the Swiss suicide outfit, is at least upfront about the motives of the euthanasia movement. Dignitas has assisted almost 900 people in ending their lives, including more than 100 from the UK. Pro-euthanasia groups in this country try to distance themselves from disreputable individuals like Minelli whilst at the same time using the existence of these facilities to manipulate public opinion.

According to Minelli, assisted suicide is a "marvellous, marvellous possibility for a human being" which should be available for absolutely anybody, including those suffering from depression, and it is quite a little money-saver for the state.

"For 50 suicide attempts you have one suicide and the others are failing with heavy costs on the National Health Service", says Minelli. "If we would have another attitude to suicide, saying suicide is a very good possibility to escape. In many, many cases they are terribly hurt afterwards sometimes you have to put them in institutions for 50 years. Very costly."

His comments simply do not reflect reality. Many suicide attempts are what is known as parasuicides, cries for help that are not intended to end in death. Yes, suicidal people may need ongoing help and support, but the argument that they are financial liabilities who should be put out of the nation's misery is so heartless as to be worthy of Nazi Germany. We mustn't forget that the euthanasia movement is just another heartless facet of the culture of death. Fortunately, its advocates are becoming careless and are making their real motives increasingly obvious.

Courageous politician holds Hillary Clinton to account

On 27 March Hillary Clinton (pictured bottom-right), the radical pro-abortion US secretary of state, visited the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mexico, a major shrine for the international pro-life movement. The very next day in Texas, Mrs Clinton received from Planned Parenthood, America's biggest abortion provider, an award named after Margaret Sanger (pictured top-right), the founder of the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) of which Planned Parenthood of America forms part. In her acceptance speech, Mrs Clinton said: "I admire Margaret Sanger enormously" and "I want to assure you that reproductive rights and the umbrella issue of women's rights and empowerment will be a key to the foreign policy of [the Obama] Administration".

In response, on 31 March Chris Smith, the pro-life congressman for Trenton, New Jersey, gave a stunning speech in the House of Representatives, holding Mrs Clinton to account for her endorsement of Sanger. Among many notable parts of his speech, Mr Smith laid out the evidence of Sanger's "cruel and reckless disregard for poor, pregnant women". Sanger had argued forcefully and at length against any form of welfare for poor mothers, arguing instead for the poor to be prevented from breeding. Mr Smith said that Planned Parenthood was really "Child Abuse Incorporated", as "[a]bortion is violence against children".

In a world dominated by a more and more aggressive and extremist anti-life regime under President Obama, we need many more courageous public figures like Congressman Chris Smith. There is no incompatibility between clear condemnations of abortion and profound, practical compassion for mothers in difficult circumstances. Chris Smith's speech featured both, and accurately represented the pro-life movement's core values.

Obama and China best of friends when it comes to forced abortion

President Barack Obama met with Hu Jintao, the Chinese leader, yesterday at the G20 summit in London. I think the smiles say it all. Mr Obama recently lifted the funding bans on the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) and other anti-life agencies which are complicit in China's one-child, forced abortion policy. I'm sure that makes Mr Hu very happy.

The late Dr John S. Aird, former senior China specialist at the U.S. Bureau for the Census, was one of the world's experts on the one-child policy. Shortly before his death in October 2005, Dr Aird wrote to SPUC: "[T]he new Chinese leadership under Hu Jintao seems to have taken, if anything, a still harder line on population control than its predecessor."

The warm attitude shown to the Chinese regime by Mr Obama and by Hilary Clinton, the new US secretary of state, reminds me of the warm relationship between Henry Kissinger, former secretary of state and Mao Zedong, the Communist dictator, in the 1970s. Indeed, it was Kissinger's infamous National Security Study Memorandum (NSSM) 200 of 1974 that set the stage for the Chinese to adopt a strict population control policy in co-operation with UN agencies in 1979. The belief that population growth, at home and/or or abroad, is bad for a country's economic and security interests rapidly became official dogma in America, China, the UK and many other countries.

After countless millions of abortions, as well as the effect of abortifacient "contraceptive" drugs and devices, and other anti-family practices, many countries now have no answer to the dilemma of how to provide for the growing proportion of their populations which is past retirement age.

For example, in the year 2000, of the population of Ukraine, 26% were children and 20% were elderly, making a total of 46% of the Ukrainian population categorised as dependent. It is predicted that by 2050, the proportion of children in the Ukrainian population will have fallen to 13%, whereas the proportion of elderly will have risen to 57%, making a total of 69% categorised as dependant. This represents an inversion of the usual population pyramid, in which a large base of working (i.e. income- and revenue-generating) citizens support a smaller base of non-working citizens.

So all the talk about stimulus packages to end the financial crisis is pointless without a plan to end the population crisis. Some tough choices are being made to end the financial crisis: company directors are being sacked and entrenched bad habits are being ended. Some tough choices need to be made to end the population crisis: many political leaders need to be sacked and abortion and other anti-life/anti-family practices need to end.

Resistance to abortion in Spain

Last Sunday pro-life marches were held simultaneously in the Spanish capital Madrid and other Spanish cities. The catalyst for the marches was the Zapatero government's proposed extension of legal abortion. LifeSite reports that "[t]he organizers estimated that 500,000 people took part in rallies in more than 80 cities across Spain, with AFP reporting an estimated 100,000 in Madrid alone." SPUC sent a message of support.

The pro-life movement can often seem isolated. So the Spanish marches helps us to remember that we are not alone. There are countless thousands of active (and yet-to-become-active!) pro-lifers all over the world, of all ages, religions and backgrounds. New pro-life campaigns are launched regularly, such as Silent No More. Pro-life activitsts are learning every day how to use the latest technologies to spread the pro-life message.

Apart from the thousands of wonderful people in the pro-life movement, we have a resource which none of the forces deployed against us have, or will ever have: the truth. A powerful, peaceful, pro-life resistance (and, I believe, prayer) will, in time, roll back the culture of death, and the truth about human life will be seen clearly. So congratulations to the Spanish marchers!