The
Department for Christian Responsbility and Citizenship of the Catholic bishops' conference of England and Wales has launched an initiative called
CEDAR (Catholics Experiencing Domestic Abuse Resources). The bishops' conference is to be congratulated on taking the issue of domestic abuse seriously, not least because women often experience abuse in the home if they refuse to have an abortion. This good work, however, is undone by CEDAR's
recommendation of helplines and support services run by anti-life and anti-family organisations. I list some of those organisations below and the ethical problems attached to them. I do not seek to make sweeping condemnations of charities which do many laudable things, but merely to warn that CEDAR's recommendations could very well result to vulnerable Catholics being led not to safety but into the culture of death. Readers may wish to join me in writing to CEDAR to express our concerns about its work:
enquiries@cedar.uk.net
Department for Christian Responsibility and Citizenship
Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales
39 Eccleston Square, London, SW1V 1BX
Ethical problems with helplines and support services recommended by CEDAR (Catholics Experiencing Domestic Abuse Resources):
Action of Elder Abuse and
Respond
Members of the Making Decisions Alliance, which campaigned for the
pro-euthanasia Mental Capacity Act
Childline
Describes
abortion as a legitimate choice; recommends the pro-abortion organisations Brook and the
Family Planning Association (FPA) as "sources of help";
says that teenagers "should always use contraception"; and presents
homosexuality* as normal.
NSPCC
In 2002 NSPCC launched a pro-abortion website with the cooperation of the pro-abortion organisation Brook. The website currently redirects to Childline (see above). In 2006 NSPCC said in a
submission to a government department: "Children and young people in school need access to sources of advice, support and counselling, which are independent of their families and the school teaching staff ... [S]uch a service can thus...offer information about where to obtain information on contraception, abortion or sexually transmitted infections."
Rights of Women
A strongly pro-abortion organisation. For example, one of its
newsletters reads:
"In addition to the legal restrictions, women face serious obstacles in accessing abortions services: anti-choice GPs delaying or refusing to refer women as well as insufficient NHS provision and long waiting times (up to eight weeks in some areas) mean that access to abortion is not guaranteed and can be difficult ... [Laurence] Robertson’s [Prohibition of Abortion (England and Wales)] Bill serves to highlight how extreme the minority anti-abortion lobby is and how little concern they have for women’s health and lives. It is also a chilling reminder that women’s abortion rights remain under constant threat."
Samaritans
SPUC's charities bulletin details how Samaritans has presented abortion and suicide as free choices.
Scottish Women's Aid
Recommends as "
useful organisations"
Amnesty International,
Engender and the
UN Division for the Advancement of Women which all lobby for abortion.
Supportline
Its "
Sexuality" webpage says: "It is ok to be gay, lesbian, bisexual - whatever feels right for you to be ... [S]ome people have grown up with very fixed ideas, they also may have fixed religious beliefs which can get in the way of acceptance and understanding...". The webpage also recommends a range of homosexualist organisations, including the dissenting Catholic organisation
Quest;
Lesbian and Gay Christian Movement (its Roman Catholic Caucus helps organise the
pro-homosexuality Soho Masses); and other groups which campaign actively against Catholic teaching on sexual ethicsx
Its "
Terminal Illness" webpage recommends the Voluntary Euthanasia Society (now trading under the euphemism
Dignity in Dying) and a
website run by EXIT, a Scottish pro-euthanasia group.
Its "
Children and young people" webpage recommends the pro-abortion organisations Brook and Connexions, and pro-abortion website run by
Marie Stopes International and the
NHS.
Survive
It's "
Advice" webpage says: "The most obvious worry is pregnancy. If there is a chance that you may become pregnant after being raped you will be able to get the "morning after" pill to prevent this."
Its list of "
useful addresses" includes Brook and the
British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), one of the UK's main abortion providers.
"
Wales Domestic Abuse run by
Welsh Women's Aid
Under "
Children and Young People" it recommends the National Children's Bureau, a pro-abortion organisation which runs the
Sex Education Forum. This same page recommends
TheSite.org which has a plethora of anti-life/anti-family material,
inter alia:
*The late Pope John Paul II, the great pro-life champion, taught (Evangelium Vitae, 1995, para.97) it is an illusion to think that we can build a true culture of human life if we do not offer adolescents and young adults an authentic education in sexuality, and in love, and the whole of life according to their true meaning and in their close interconnection.
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johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk
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Mgr Michael Schooyans is a philosopher and theologian, a member of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences and the Pontifical Academy for Life, and a Consultant of the Pontifical Council for the Family. In a 2005 paper entitled "AIDS and condoms", he set out to address the moral argument in statements made by prominent individuals from the academic and/or ecclesiastical world who attack the church and demand it change its position on the teachings on condoms and AIDS. In the light of the recent attacks upon the Catholic Church's perennial prohibition of all condom use, readers might find Mgr Schooyans' paper useful.
