Friday 25 October 2013

Must-read #prolife news-stories, Fri 25 Oct

Top stories:

Pro-life victory as European Parliament votes to send pro-abortion report back to committee
In a pro-life victory, the European Parliament has voted to send the pro-abortion Estrela report back to committee. Anti-family lobbyists are complaining about "intense lobbying" by pro-life/pro-family groups, so well done to all those SPUC supporters who lobbied their MEPs (Members of the European Parliament) prior to the vote. (See our action alert of 16 October for what was contained in the Estrela report.) Anthony Ozimic, SPUC's communications manager, told LifeSiteNews.com: "Today's set-back for the Estrela report shows that the pro-abortion lobby does not have it all its own way, even in the culture of death which is so prevalent in Europe. Forthright and intelligent lobbying by individual pro-lifers and their representative organisations can and does frustrate the designs of powerful anti-life forces. Although the pro-abortion lobby has many times the funding of the pro-life movement, pro-lifers can punch above our weight because we have the truth with us. There is all to play for, and the victory is won in terms of lives saved and families protected." [LifeSiteNews.com, 22 October]

Pro-life campaigners praise Damien Hirst's latest work
SPUC and other pro-life groups have praised the latest work of Damien Hirst, the British artist. The work, entitled "The Miraculous Journey", consists of large bronze depictions of human development from conception through to infancy. It was commissioned by the museums authority in Qatar. Anthony Ozimic, SPUC's communications manager, told Independent Catholic News: "We congratulate the Qatari authorities on their eye-catching public initiative. It is wonderful that a popular artist has replicated on a large scale the same kind of foetal models which SPUC and other pro-life groups have been using in schools and elsewhere for many decades. Educating the public about the wonderful reality of human development from conception through to birth is a vital means of saving unborn children. We were all unborn children once, so when we look at these models, we see ourselves. We hope that these models will help dissuade women from seeking abortion and will led to improved support for pregnant women, especially in unplanned or crisis pregnancies." [Independent Catholic News, 22 October]

Other stories:

Abortion
Euthanasia
Sexual ethics
  • Openness to children and marriage go together, says Catholic Church's doctrinal prefect [John Smeaton, 24 October]
  • UK Supreme Court rejects Northern Ireland Health Minister’s appeal against gay adoption [Pink News, 22 October]
General
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