Tuesday, 15 November 2011

Today's must-read pro-life news-stories, Tue 15 Nov

Andrea Bocelli tells how he was saved from abortion
Top stories:

Andrea Bocelli, opera star, speaks out against abortion
Andrea Bocelli, the Italian opera star, has spoken about his opposition to abortion. In an interview in London, he said: “It is not Christian to go against someone. I am in favour of life. And, of course, personally I do not share the idea of being able to interrupt life arbitrarily." Mr Bocelli's mother had rejected pressure to have an abortion. [Telegraph, 14 November] http://goo.gl/LU11W

Pope says destroying embryos always wrong regardless of potential benefit
Pope Benedict XVI has said that the killing of human embryos is always wrong regardless of any potential benefit. He made the comments to participants in a conference on adult stem cell research at the Vatican. [AP via Yahoo!, 12 November] http://goo.gl/1QTNY Decades of destructive embryo research have provided no direct therapeutic benefits to patients.

SPUC Pro-Life is speaking out against Dr Philip Nitschke, suicide promoter
SPUC Pro-Life is speaking out against the latest UK tour of Dr Philip Nitschke, the notorious promoter of suicide methods. It has contacted the venues where Dr Nitschke is due to appear to urge them to cancel his appearances. SPUC Pro-Life is also emailing other users of the venues, local MPs, local councillors and local religious leaders, urging them also to contact the venues to complain. [John Smeaton, 11 November] http://goo.gl/eT4aC

Other stories:

Abortion
Embryology
Euthanasia
Population
Sexual ethics
General
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Monday, 14 November 2011

The Catholic Herald apologises to readers for misjudged Terrence Higgins Trust advertisement

Since my blog on Saturday about The Catholic Herald's inclusion of an advertisement by the Terrence Higgins Trust (THT), Andy Leisinger, the newspaper's managing director, has sent the following response to concerned readers:
"The Catholic Herald carried a loose leaf insert for the Terrence Higgins Trust in its November 11th issue. We were informed that pregnant mothers diagnosed with HIV were encouraged to proceed with child birth and would be offered substantial post-natal care.

We feel we have misjudged our approach in accepting advertising from this organisation and we apologise unreservedly to our readers for any offence caused.

Yours sincerely,

Andy Leisinger
Managing Director
Catholic Herald Ltd (The Catholic Herald and Scottish Catholic Observer)"
I wish to thank Mr Leisinger for this positive response. As Mr Leisinger infers, the THT advertisement did indeed imply to Catholic Herald readers that THT is pro-life: the advertisement contained the story of a HIV+ mother who feared she would be pressured to have an abortion. This cynically misleading ploy by the pro-abortion THT shows just how vigilant we must all be against the machinations of the culture of death.

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Saturday, 12 November 2011

The Catholic Herald advertises the Terrence Higgins Trust, radical anti-life and anti-family organisation

SPUC's staff have informed me that this weekend's edition of The Catholic Herald  - sold in just about every Catholic church in the United Kingdom - contains an advertising insert, addressed to "Dear Catholic Herald readers", from the Terrence Higgins Trust (THT). Terrence Higgins was a homosexual who was one of the first people in the UK to die from AIDS. Among other things, THT:
  • says about abortion: "The important thing to remember is that it is your body and your choice to continue with a pregnancy or not." The status of the unborn child isn't mentioned, nor are moral objections to abortion explained
  • links to the abortion providers BPAS and Marie Stopes and the pro-abortion group Education for Choice, on its pages on abortion
  • described "abortion and contraception services" as "an area of considerable unmet need"
  • says: "Some people worry that emergency contraception [the morning-after pill] is a form of abortion, but it is not, as an abortion involves removing a foetus from the womb. Emergency contraception works by preventing a foetus from being able to develop."
  • welcomed a finding that stem cells from mouse embryos could potentially lead to an embryonic stem cell cure for AIDS (The Times, 22 March 2004)
  • provides "living wills" (advance directives), now part of the pro-euthanasia Mental Capacity Act
  • attacked the Catholic Church's opposition to the promotion of condoms
  • made false claims about the benefits of sex education
  • says: "Some people think that being straight is ‘normal’ and that being gay or bisexual is ‘abnormal’. This is not true; no sexuality is better or more normal than another."
  • says: "Being gay is completely normal."
  • says: "Masturbation is completely natural, normal, and a good way of getting to know your body."
  • provides a explicitly-detailed guide to various - and some totally disgusting - sexual acts.
The inclusion of the THT advertisement in latest Catholic Herald comes only one month after the newspaper's inclusion of advertisements for Médecins Sans Frontières and the Alzheimer's Society, which also support anti-life practices. Following my blogpost a month ago about those inclusions, concerned readers wrote directly to The Catholic Herald's editor to complain. There is therefore no credible excuse for its latest failure to ensure that advertisements for anti-life or anti-family organisations are not inserted in its editions.

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Friday, 11 November 2011

SPUC Pro-Life is speaking out against Dr Philip Nitschke, suicide promoter

Starting tomorrow, Dr Philip Nitschke, president of Exit International, is touring the UK. He will lead public meetings and seminars, focused on advising people how they can commit suicide using a wide range of methods. Our colleague Dr Peter Saunders of the Christian Medical Fellowship (CMF) has an informative blog-post today all about Dr Nitschke.

SPUC Pro-Life has contacted the venues where Dr Nitschke is due to appear to urge them to cancel his appearances. SPUC Pro-Life is also emailing other users of the venues, local MPs, local councillors and local religious leaders, urging them also to contact the venues to complain. Below is a sample of SPUC Pro-Life's email letter. Readers of this blog may also like to email the venues to complain:
Letter from SPUC Pro-Life:
"We are writing to you in your capacity as [relationship to venue]. We are very disturbed to learn that [venue] will be hosting [date] a public meeting and seminar about suicide methods. The advertisements for the seminars explain that they provide “practical information” about ending life with barbiturates, gases, poisons and other prescription and non-prescription drugs.

These public meetings and seminars are being presented by Dr Philip Nitschke, director and founder of Exit International. He is on record as saying he believes that suicide pills should be sold in supermarkets and should be available practically on demand to even “the depressed, the elderly bereaved, the troubled teen”. I enclose Exit International’s most recent newsletter, which is an explicit guide to suicide, assisted suicide and euthanasia.

As an organisation which represents vulnerable people – including suicide survivors among disabled people – we hope you will share our disgust at Dr Nitschke being given a public platform for his sinister activities. A number of venues have in the past cancelled his speaking appearance, due to the deeply disturbing nature of his talks and the distress they cause to vulnerable citizens (whether or not they attend the events).

We therefore urge you to contact [the venue] to let them know that you object to its decision to host Dr Nitschke.

Yours sincerely, etc."
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Thursday, 10 November 2011

Fr Paschal Ryan is setting a great pro-life example

Fr Paschal Ryan, an episcopal vicar of the Catholic archdiocese of Westminster, was interviewed recently during a 40 Days for Life vigil outside the BPAS abortion centre in central London. Do watch the interview in full below or on YouTube. Among other things, Fr Ryan said:
"[The situation of abortion] is a situation of great need ... We hope that by our prayers that somehow [God's] grace may be active, both upon the people who are providing this terrible thing [abortion], also upon the women who are tempted, and on those who create this whole culture of death in which we live; and we are all to some extent involved in this. And so by praying, and by praying for this situation, we are to some extent at least setting ourselves apart from this culture in which we find ourselves."


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I found my mother's love letter to my dad

72 years ago today Margot, my dear late mum, wrote a beautiful letter to Jack, my dear late dad. She was overflowing with joy about his proposal of marriage. I found the letter in our attic at home and immediately shared it with my three sisters and brother. Naturally, they were all delighted to read it.

With all the attacks on love and marriage, and with the co-operation in this matter of certain Catholic bishops in England and Wales, directed most wickedly towards our children in school,  I found it magnificently uplifting to read the following words (which are even better in the original):
Copy of letter to Jack 10th November 1939
My Dearest Jack,

This is indeed the happiest letter I have ever wanted to write, and even before I begin I have a feeling that I shall probably experience great difficulty in compressing all my joyous thoughts into a single letter and yet what does it matter for I now have a whole life-time in which to write and talk to you. I can scarcely realize even now the magnitude of the wonderful thing that has happened to me and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the great honour you have done me by asking me to spend my future life with you. I am praying now that I may be worthy of you and I shall always thank God for sending me your love.

My dearest Jack, I love you very much and I am so utterly happy to be able to tell you this. I cannot imagine life without you.

I feel we have so much to discuss and plan - everything to look forward to which our life together will offer. It as though a great barrier has been lifted between us and I am confident that our united prayers have brought us to this beautiful decision.

The knowledge that we share the same glorious Faith has always been a source of great joy to me and is even more so at this moment, particularly as it was our common faith which originally brought us together.

And now Jack I must bring my letter to a close. May God bless you and look after you always.

With all my love,

Margot 
Thank you mum for writing these words:
  • “a great barrier has been lifted between us” which tells me and all your descendants all we need to know about the purity of true love and about what joy such purity brings; 
  • and “this beautiful decision” which teaches your descendants all we need to know about the sacredness of marriage and the fruits of marriage. 
And thank you dad, on behalf of all your children, grandchildren, and great grandchildren, for inspiring such a great love in my mother and for giving her such great love in return.

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Wednesday, 9 November 2011

Today's must-read pro-life news-stories, Wed 9 Nov

Dr Philip Nitschke
Top stories:

Check out SPUC's briefing and conference on maternal mortality
SPUC has launched a new briefing and conference on maternal mortality. The launches are in response to the coalition government's promotion of abortion in poorer countries, on the false pretext of reducing maternal deaths. The conference will be held in London on 20 March 2012. [John Smeaton, 9 November] http://goo.gl/uxSZ7

Write to local authorities to stop abortion 'duty' being imposed
The British government is planning to force local authorities to provide abortion services under the NHS reforms currently before parliament (the Health and Social Care Bill). This was stated by Anne Milton, the health minister, in a parliamentary answer. SPUC is calling upon supporters to write to their local councillors about the move. [John Smeaton, 8 November] http://goo.gl/5aatw

Scottish church leaders speak out against workshop by suicide campaigner
Christian leaders in Scotland have spoken out against a forthcoming workshop on suicide methods. Dr Philip Nitschke (pictured), an Australian euthanasia campaigner, is due to present the workshop in Edinburgh on 19 November. Ian Galloway of the Church of Scotland said: “To reduce the conversation about life and death to a workshop on how to help someone to kill themselves demeans our common humanity.” [Scotsman, 8 November] http://goo.gl/Pk4qS

Other stories:

Abortion
Euthanasia
Sexual ethics
General
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Check out SPUC's briefing and conference on maternal mortality

The coalition government continues to promote abortion intensively in poorer countries of the world – on the false pretext of reducing maternal deaths. We cannot ignore how our country is working to export the culture of death around the world. Please read SPUC's new briefing package entitled "Maternal Mortality and Abortion in Developing Countries".

The scandal of the UK exporting abortion around the world will be challenged at a conference in London next year entitled: "Abortion or Maternal Health: What should we be funding in developing countries?". Please note the date in your diary now: Tuesday 20 March 2012. The venue is Regent Hall, 275 Oxford Street, London W1. Speakers will include international medical and legal experts. Further details, including prices and booking forms will be circulated shortly, or check online for information at www.spuc.org.uk

Please alert your friends and contacts, especially medics, students, clergy, lawyers, third-world charity promoters, teachers, etc., to this event. They can e-mail: conference@spuc.org.uk to request further details and booking information.

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Tuesday, 8 November 2011

Write to local authorities to stop abortion 'duty' being imposed

According to Anne Milton, the minister for public health, the government is planning to force Local Authorities to provide abortion services under the NHS reforms currently before parliament (the Health and Social Care Bill). This was stated by Mrs Milton in a parliamentary answer. The changes will give responsibilities for commissioning health services to new Local Authority committees in England, and, according to Mrs Milton, the government plans to introduce statutory regulations to force local authorities to provide abortions as part of the new arrangements. This will create a conflict for any councillor who objects to abortion. Regulations forcing Councils to set up contracts with abortion providers (NHS or private) would also create the false idea that there is a legal right to abortion.

Until the new law is finalised and the regulations are drafted we cannot be certain what effect they will have, but we need to act now to alert local councillors to this threat.

Please write to your local councillors* and ask them to write to their chief executive requesting clarification of what the regulations will require. It is important to bear in mind that we are not saying that the current situation should be maintained, but that no statutory duty to commission abortions should be imposed on Local Authorities under the NHS reforms.

* The relevant local authorities are:
Unitary authorities (where these exist), Borough Councils (in London), Metropolitan District Councils, and County Councils elsewhere. (A helpful, informal guide to Local Authority structures can be found at http://www.gwydir.demon.co.uk/uklocalgov/structure.htm )

You can contact your local councillors via http://www.writetothem.com/

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Pope says Catholic Church obliged to protect values over and above individual cultures

Pope Benedict made many important pro-life statements yesterday in his address to the new German ambassador  - do read the whole address below. Of particular significance are his words:
"The Church...is obliged to protect those values which are valid for mankind as such, over and above individual cultures. Fortunately, a fundamental part of shared human values became law in the German Constitution of 1949 and in the Declaration of Human Rights after World War II."
SPUC has also been emphasising (through the Amnesty for Babies initiative and other campaigns) both the universality of human rights and the fact that the UN Declaration of Human Rights upholds the right to life of all unborn children from conception - and thus obliges all governments to ban abortion and destructive embryo research.
LETTERS OF CREDENCE OF NEW GERMAN AMBASSADOR

VATICAN CITY, 7 NOV 2011 (VIS) - This morning in the Vatican the Holy Father received the Letters of Credence of Reinhard Schweppe, the new German ambassador to the Holy See. In his remarks to the diplomat he recalled his own recent visit to the country of his birth which, he said, provided an opportunity "to reflect upon the service the Catholic Church and the Holy See can make in a pluralistic society".

"Many of our contemporaries see the influence of Christianity, and of other religions as a way of imposing a specific culture and lifestyle upon society", the Pope observed. "This view is not incorrect, but it is not a complete understanding of the Catholic Church, ... which has not only formed different kinds of cultural community in different countries, but has herself been moulded by the traditions of individual nations".

"The Church is aware - thanks to her faith - that she knows the truth about man, and thus that she is obliged to protect those values which are valid for mankind as such, over and above individual cultures", the Holy Father went on. "Fortunately, a fundamental part of shared human values became law in the German Constitution of 1949 and in the Declaration of Human Rights after World War II. ... Today, however, certain basic values of human life are again being put into question, values which defend the dignity man possesses simply by virtue of being a man. It is here that the Church sees she has a duty, over and above her faith, to defend truths and values that are under threat".

Pope Benedict went on: "We are not qualified to judge - to speak of one particularly important topic - whether an individual is 'already a person' or 'still a person'; even less so do we have the right to manipulate and, so to say, 'to create' man. Only a society which unconditionally respects and defends the dignity of each human being, from conception to natural end, can call itself a human society. ... If the Holy See enters into the field of lawmaking on fundamental questions that involve man's dignity - such as those that arise today concerning the prenatal existence of man - she does so not as a way of indirectly imposing her faith upon others, but of defending values which are evident to everyone because they concern the truth about human beings".

Benedict XVI then went on to refer to gender discrimination against women, describing it as "a critical problem which, due to materialistic and hedonistic tendencies, seems to be on the increase, above all in the Western world". The Pope highlighted how "a relationship which fails to take account of the fact that man and woman have equal dignity represents a grave affront to humankind. The time has come to take an energetic stance against prostitution and the widespread availability of erotic and pornographic material, also on the Internet. The Holy See will ensure that the Catholic Church in Germany takes clear and decisive initiatives against this form of abuse".

In conclusion, the Pope thanked the German federal government and the governments of the Lander for supporting the Catholic Church "which enjoys excellent openings in Germany", both to announce the Gospel and to help people in need through her social and charitable institutions "the work of which, in the final analysis, is of benefit to all citizens".
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Monday, 7 November 2011

It's more than Elton John's prejudice that we need courage to oppose

On The Guardian's website last Friday, Elton John, the pop singer, wrote (my emphases in bold):
“For too long schools have been afraid to take action [against homophobia]. They've feared the sort of moral panic generated by oddball fundamentalists, claiming that somehow seven-year-olds are being tutored in having sex ... There's an associated area where we're also all painfully under-serving our next generation. That's in our continuing failure to furnish them with an honest and appropriate sex education from the time they need it. Too often, we still take a near-Victorian approach to sex-and-relationship education which should be at the heart of our national curriculum ... We owe it to boys and girls to have a frank, open and realistic discussion with them before the age of sexual activity so that they're prepared and protected. There's no evidence – even if Tea Partiers in the US fancy the possibility – that abstinence campaigns either work or indeed successfully elevate the sanctity of marriage ... We can all contact our former school or the schools where we live, both primary and secondary, asking the headteacher exactly what he or she is doing to combat homophobic bullying and to equip young people with appropriate and robust sex education.”
This is the same Elton John:
Elton John's reference to "fundamentalists, claiming that somehow seven-year-olds are being tutored in having sex" is a reference to the campaigns of SPUC's Safe at School and its colleagues from other organisations fighting against the pornographic material being shown to primary school children.

But let's be clear: Elton John's agenda is not merely the uninformed blather of an ageing narcissistic 'star'. It is an agenda shared at the highest levels of the British government. Before the 2010 general election, David Cameron (now prime minister), Nick Clegg (deputy prime minister) and Ed Balls (then education secretary, now shadow chancellor of the exchequer) all agreed that schools, including faith schools, should be forced to teach that homosexuality is normal and harmless.

I therefore thank God that there are powerful signs of resistance to the homosexual agenda to be found. For example:
  • the foreign minister of Tanzania has said that his country rejects pressure by the British government to adopt so-called gay rights. Bernard Membe said: "We are not ready to allow any rich nation to give us aid based on unacceptable conditions simply because we are poor." Leaders in other African countries are also rejecting the Cameron government's pressure
  • Timothy Dolan, Catholic archbishop of New York, last month issued a strong statement forbidding Catholics in the archdiocese from any complicity in same-sex marriage.
We will all need great courage in the coming years to show such powerful signs of resistance to the homosexual agenda. Companies are already sacking or demoting employees who publicly oppose so-called gay marriage. It was very appropriate, therefore, that yesterday's Epistle at Mass was from Ephesians 6:
"Put you on the armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the deceits of the devil. For our wrestling is not, against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high places."
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Today's must-read pro-life news-stories, Mon 7 Nov

Susan Tollefsen
Top stories:

I was wrong to have baby at 57, admits IVF mum
A UK woman (pictured) who gave birth at 57 following IVF has said it was a mistake to have children so late. Susan Tollefsen admits to struggling to raise her child now she is over 60. She said: "With the benefit of hindsight, I recognise that perhaps some of my critics were right." [Irish Independent, 7 November] http://goo.gl/8HmvB

UK court involved in euthanasia decisions should be open to public scrutiny, says court's judge
The head of an English which makes decisions on the treatment of the mentally-incapacitated has said that his court should be opened up to public scrutiny. Sir Nicholas Wall, head of the Court of Protection, said he is "increasingly encouraging judges who deal with life and death cases and those that involve the public interest – that is, deprivation of liberty safeguards or life support machine cases – either to sit in open court or to publish their judgments anonymously. The public deserve to know about how they are decided." [Guardian, 6 November] http://goo.gl/g9Yqv

Tanzania will not be bullied over gay rights issues, minister tells Britain
The foreign minister of Tanzania has said that his country rejects pressure by the British government to adopt so-called gay rights. Bernard Membe said: "We are not ready to allow any rich nation to give us aid based on unacceptable conditions simply because we are poor." Leaders in other African countries are also rejecting the Cameron government's pressure. [Pink Paper, 5 November] http://goo.gl/vIgz2

Other stories

Abortion
Sexual ethics
General
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Saturday, 5 November 2011

May peaceful pro-life witness outside abortion clinics spread like wildfire throughout our land

An all-night vigil on Friday evening at one of Britain's leading abortion clinics, led by Robert Colquhoun and the 40 days for life team, brings their courageous, life-saving, project to its final weekend.

Robert is pictured in the picture, below right, addressing us as the night began.

This vigil has drawn many pro-life groups together in a joint venture involving witness to the sanctity of human life, compassionate counselling for mothers-to-be and prayer.

It has won the support of church leaders - including Bishop Hopes, auxiliary Catholic bishop of Westminster, in west London, and Father Paschal Ryan, an episcopal vicar in central and east London in the archdiocese of Westminster, who led the closing prayers at Friday night's vigil. I also spotted at the vigil last night Father Alexander Sherbrooke, parish priest at St. Patrick's, Soho Square.

It won the support of Good Counsel Network and Helpers of God's Precious Infants - themselves tireless, all-year-round, witnesses, counsellors, and spiritual intercessors outside abortion clinics in London and elsewhere in the UK. And it won the support of SPUC.

Most important of all, lives have been changed and lives have been saved - an eternal consequence of the fantastic effort and leadership shown by this young inspiring team.

By harnessing the support of church leaders to their efforts, they are harnessing the support of officials who can completely transform the pro-life battle. I believe that the episcopal charism, in particular the power of teaching unchanging the truths guarded, but not owned by the church, such as the truth about the value and inviolability of human life, has the power completely to change the society in which we live.

100 young people last night were inspired by the presence of Fr Ryan, episcopal vicar in the archdiocese of Westminster, and by the strong support of Bishop Alan Hopes, who's made his backing very clear.

40 days for life, in a statement yesterday, put it like this:
"A great turn out for our vigil of 80-100 people came between 7pm-830pm last night, a good number staying all night! It was very likely there were two turnarounds on Friday thanks to some incredible counselling."
Thank you Bishop Hopes. Thank you Fr Ryan. And thanks to all who participated in this witness and in similar witnesses elsewhere in London and throughout the UK. With the help of God, and with wise human and spiritual leadership, may pro-life witness outside abortion clinics spread like wildfire throughout our land.

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Read the record of Ireland's president-elect on life and family

SPUC's Irish colleagues have kindly sent me their information on Michael D. Higgins, Ireland's president-elect. Do read the information below. You will soon see what a mistake the Irish people made by not electing a pro-life/pro-family candidate like Dana Rosemary Scallon. Our Lady of Knock and St Patrick, pray for Ireland!

Background

Michael D. Higgins is a veteran politician of the Irish Labour party, which is the junior partner in Ireland's coalition government, with Fine Gael the senior partner. Eamon Gilmore, the Labour party's leader, is reported to have said (on RTÉ's News at One) that the party wants to introduce abortion to Ireland based on the British model. The Labour/Fine Gael 'Programme for Government' includes commitments to:
  • "establish an expert group to address th[e] issue [of abortion]"
  • "legislate to clarify the law surrounding assisted human reproduction including the law relating [to] parental relationships arising from assisted human reproductiion"
  • "legislate to regulate stem cell research"
  • "legislate to change the [sic] organ donation to an opt-out system for organ transplantation"
  • hold a constitutional convention to consider (among other things) "same-sex marriage"
  • "amend tax and social welfare law in respect of civil partnerships" and "ensure that trans-gender people will have legal recognition".
Record

In 1983 Mr Higgins spoke in the Seanad (Senate) against the pro-life amendment to the Constitution.

Prior to this year's (2011) president election, Mr Higgins was asked by pro-life groups about his position on the right to life of the unborn child. He replied:
"I think that in relation to the woman she is entitled to protect her health, and equally we have to have rights for the foetus. As President, I respect the view of the Supreme Court, I respect the role of the legislature, if legislation comes before me I would certainly not be imposing any views of my own in relation to it. It wouldn't be appropriate."
Mr Higgins' reply implies that he will sign any legislation and accept any Supreme Court decision allowing for abortion or destructive embryo research, despite Ireland's pro-life Constitution.

Family and Life, an Irish pro-life group, has said:
"Michael D. Higgins (Labour) has refused to clarify his position on abortion, despite calls to do so in the wake of Dana's comments that Mr. Higgins was 'pro-abortion'. He is also in favour of same-sex marriage and adoption by homosexual couples. While he was a member of the Dáil, Mr. Higgins called on the then Fianna Fáil-led government to introduce abortion in 2001."
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Friday, 4 November 2011

Today's must-read pro-life news-stories, Fri 4 Nov

New pro-life film
Top stories:

500 cases of abuse and neglect of elderly reported every week says UK health service
The National Health Service (NHS) has for the first time published statistics of the abuse and neglect of the elderly. The figures reveal that almost 500 cases of such abuse and neglect are reported every week. Incidents include denial of food and medication. [Mail, 3 November] http://goo.gl/G0rwp

Argentina lower house drops bill to extend abortion
The lower house of Congress in Argentina has dropped a bill to extend abortion. Approval by a committee, necessary for the bill to progress, was not obtained. Cynthia Hotton, a deputy in the congress who opposed the bill, said: "I reaffirm my commitment in defence of the life of the child from conception and to natural death." [LifeNews.com, 3 November] http://goo.gl/NeFfE

Other stories:

Abortion
Embryology
Population
Sexual ethics
General
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Join tonight’s pro-life vigil if you can

Pro-lifers praying at Bedford Square
40 Days for Life London has sent out the following email:
"This evening we have an all night vigil for life. Unfortunately we have been informed by Bishop Hopes today that due to unforseen circumstances he is unable to make the vigil, but he is keen to come at another date. We will continue our prayers and vigil as usual. Please come and join the vigil for our last 3 days of 2011!"
The details of this evening's vigil are:
  • Location: north-west corner of Bedford Square, London WC1B 3HP
  • Time: 7pm to 8pm.
I do hope that everyone who was intending to go along to support Bishop Hopes in his witness for unborn children and their mothers will make an even greater effort to be present.

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Thursday, 3 November 2011

Eugenics rules in Europe, three generations after Nazism

Doris Stump
Daniel Blackman, one of SPUC's researchers, has sent me his report (below) on a recent debate in the Parliamentary Assmembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on the subject of sex selection (see SPUC's alert of 28 September). We can see that eugenics now rules in Europe, three generations after the defeat of the Nazi regime: 
"The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe recently passed resolution 1829 (2011) “Prenatal Sex selection”, which aims to outlaw the practice of prenatal and preimplanation genetic screening to determine the sex of the child with a view to terminating his or her life. The resolution will be forwarded to the Committee of Ministers, representing the PACE member-states. The resolution was put forward by Doris Stump, a Swiss socialist . The issue of sex-selective abortion and embryo destruction received particular criticism in the context of Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, who are members of PACE. The resolution calls on member-states to introduce legislation and clinical guidelines that prohibit sex-selective abortion and embryo destruction.

However, the resolution contains strongly eugenic clauses that discriminate against the disabled. It states that sex-selective abortion should be prohibited:
“unless justified for the prevention of serious sex-linked genetic diseases”
and
“except when it is justified to avoid a serious hereditary disease”.
An example is that of Turner’s syndrome which almost exclusively affects females. It is not life-threatening, and can be managed in a way that allows girls and women to lead fulfilled lives. In Britain at least 2,290 babies were aborted on disability grounds in 2010. The recommendation attached to the resolution cites a eugenic and discriminatory section of the Oviedo Convention on Biomedicine along the same lines. Luca Volonte, leader of the European People's Party (EPP), put forward an amendment to have one of these eugenic clauses removed, arguing that prenatal sex selection would still discriminate against girls if they were found to have a genetic disorder. The amendment was rejected, revealing that the support for abortion was greater than the support for human rights.

The debate was mistakenly framed within the context of gender equality, rather than human rights. Within that context abortion was defended as a woman’s right. As the rapporteur Doris Stump said:
“It is difficult because it touches on an area that we do not want to question: the right to have an abortion in countries where they have that. At the same time, everyone accepts that there is a problem in our societies with sex selection, or we could have a problem if we go on like this.”
The gender equality framework and eugenic clause came under criticism from Mr Rochebloine, a French EPP delegate :
“It was claimed that sex selection had its roots in cultural sex discrimination, including violence against women. The absurdity of such claims would became obvious if one turned the issue around and tried to promote female births. Men and women should be respected for their individual qualities Prenatal selection should be opposed, whether to select the sex of a baby or to avoid giving birth to a handicapped child. Condemnation of the practice should be based on an absolute conviction of children’s right to be born. Respect for that principle was the source of social cohesion and moral force.”
Mr. Vareikis, a delegate from Lithuania, rightly brought attention the issue of family as the context for children, not IVF procedures. Children must be conceived and raised in the family based on one man and one woman in marriage. A child should not become the property of the pregnant mother who can dispose of the child. He said:
"We have to change our spirit and our understanding of what the family is. The solution lies in the attitude to family life. Family is not for GDP creation: it is not for the production of boys or members of the work force. Family, as we say, is the soul of society, and we have no statistical proof that families with more boys are happier than families with more girls. It is a stupid attitude to think that families are happier with more boys. We have to have – I am sorry, I am very romantic – more children, more natural family planning, more natural love, more natural sex. We would be happy without any reports about how to ban sex selection."
The resolution, including its eugenic clauses, was passed 81 in favour, 3 against, and 3 abstaining. The recommendation, which carries the resolution to the Committee of Ministers, was passed 82 in favour, 3 against, and 3 abstaining. Luca Volonte was one of the three delegates to vote against the recommendation.
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Today's must-read pro-life news-stories, Thu 3 Nov

Sir John Williams and his surgeon's knife
Top stories:

New evidence may confirm that abortionist was Jack the Ripper
New evidence has emerged which may identify an abortionist as Jack the Ripper, the notorious serial killer of women in Victorian London. A knife and samples of uterine tissue belonging to Sir John Williams, a famous surgeon who performed abortions, have been discovered by one of his relatives. Sir John was recorded to have had performed an abortion on one of the Ripper's victims. [Telegraph, 3 November] http://goo.gl/afayz

40% of Austrians oppose IVF for single women and lesbians couples
40% of Austrians oppose IVF for single women and lesbians couples, suggests a new survey. The survey follows proposals by Alois Stöger, Austria's health minister. In August Mr Stöger had also proposed an expansion of abortion services. [Austrian Times, 2 November] http://goo.gl/o4RsT

UK government to allow homosexual partnership ceremonies at places of worship
The British government is reported to have approved a proposal to allow civil partnership ceremonies to be conducted at places of worship. Civil partnerships in English law are legally exclusive to same-sex couples and in practice are used only by homosexual couples; and have already been given many of the "rights belonging to marriage" in English law. [Telegraph, 1 November] http://goo.gl/3ML9d John Smeaton, SPUC director, called upon people to confront the Cameron government’s homosexual agenda while they can. [John Smeaton, 2 November] http://goo.gl/JWHHG

Other stories:

Abortion
Euthanasia
Population
Sexual ethics
General
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Wednesday, 2 November 2011

We must confront the Cameron government’s homosexual agenda while we can

St John Chrysostom confronted the Empress Eudoxia
The Telegraph reports today that the government has approved the proposal to allow civil partnership ceremonies to be conducted at places of worship. Readers will recall that civil partnerships in English law are legally exclusive to same-sex couples and in practice are used only by homosexual* couples; and have already been given many of the "rights belonging to marriage" in English law. 

It would be entirely wrong for Catholics to fail to oppose the celebration of civil partnerships by denominations other than the Catholic Church (or as present by the civil authorities), on the grounds thast such ceremonies are unlikely to be allowed in Catholic churches. The homosexual lifestyle violates the natural moral law; and the natural moral law binds everyone. It is an ethical matter, not just a religious one. By analogy, here is what the present Pope said in 1987 (when Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith) regarding embryo research (my emphases in bold):
"The inviolable right to life of every innocent human individual and the rights of the family and of the institution of marriage constitute fundamental moral values, because they concern the natural condition and integral vocation of the human person; at the same time they are constitutive elements of civil society and its order. For this reason the new technological possibilities which have opened up in the field of biomedicine require the intervention of the political authorities and of the legislator, since an uncontrolled application of such techniques could lead to unforeseeable and damaging consequences for civil society. Recourse to the conscience of each individual and to the self-regulation of researchers cannot be sufficient for ensuring respect for personal rights and public order."
By analogy with the homosexual lifestyle, the government has a duty to forbid civil partnerships - and we must ensure that the government fulfils that duty.

Yes, I am all too aware of how rapidly the homosexual agenda is advancing:
  • 3 October: the Home Office announces that passports will now have the option of naming same-sex couples as the passport holder's parents
  • 10 October: Andrew Mitchell, the international development secretary, says the government will cut overseas aid to governments which don't respect so-called 'gay rights'
  • 23 October: a Christian housing manager is demoted by his employer for opposing gay marriage in a comment on his personal Facebook profile
  • 24 October: Tesco announces that it is now a major sponsor of the London Gay Pride festival
  • 27 October: the Commonwealth's secretary-general and the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group endorses the homosexual agenda
  • 28 October: a politician is voted off a Citizens Advice Bureau board for his opposition to gay marriage.
If, however, we fail to confront governments and other powerful institutions when they back the homosexual agenda, then there is a real danger that that homosexual campaigners will win their argument that "gay is the new black": in other words, that objections to the homosexual agenda will forever more be seen as unacceptable as racism. For example, Peter Tatchell, the notorious homosexual rights campaigner, said recently:
"There would be uproar if the government banned Jewish people from marriage and offered them civil partnerships instead. We would call it an anti-Semitic law; something we would expect in Nazi Germany not democratic Britain. Well, Jews are not banned from marriage but gay people are."
The idea that Catholics should "reframe" questions on homosexuality to make them less "neuralgic" for society is not Catholic. As Pope Benedict said earlier this month (my emphasis in bold):
"Christians have the duty to denounce evils, to attest to and to keep alive the values on which the dignity of the person is founded...".
And the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church says that (emphasis in the original):
“The Church’s social doctrine has the task of proclamation, but also of denunciation ... This social doctrine also entails a duty to denounce, when sin is present...”.
I will blog again soon on how this also applies to the Cameron government's promotion of abortion at home and abroad.

*Why is homosexuality (and sexual ethics generally) important specifically for the pro-life movement? The late Pope John Paul II, the great pro-life champion, taught in no. 97 of his 1995 encyclical Evangelium Vitae that 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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Tuesday, 1 November 2011

Catholic journalist commends pro-abortion MP to the nation

Francis Davis, a columnist for The Catholic Times and former director of the Las Casas Institute, has written a series of blog-posts on the address which was due to be given at Blackfriars by Dr Jon Cruddas MP (pictured) and the opposition this event attracted due to Jon Cruddas' pro-abortion voting record. As it happened, Jon Cruddas withdrew from the event.

Mr Davis has written with much verbosity about people who object to invitations from Catholic institutions to pro-abortion speakers. All one needs to know, however, about Mr Davis and his position is that he has described Jon Cruddas as "a very good thing" and that he is "proud to commend Dr Jon Cruddas MP to the nation".

This is the same Jon Cruddas MP who in December 2010 told The Catholic Herald that abortion "should be safe, legal and rare" and in June 2007 he said to BBC Sunday AM, when questioned about abortion: “I'm perfectly happy with the current situation”. The current situation in the UK is that there are 570 registered abortions on average each day, with abortions carried out up to birth.

Since 2000, Jon Cruddas MP voted 18 times with the anti-life lobby. For example:
  • voting in favour of the anti-life Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act at second reading - a law designed to kill millions of innocent human beings deliberately created never to be born
  • voting for the pro-euthanasia Mental Capacity Act.
Since Francis Davis is proud to commend this strongly pro-abortion MP to the nation, I suppose that makes me proud to recommend that Francis Davis should not be employed by a Catholic newspaper.

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Watch SPUC's Anthony Ozimic and me speak about population on Russian TV

Last week Anthony Ozimic, SPUC's communications manager and I participated in a round-table discussion on the Russian news channel RIA Novosti. We were joined by Russian experts on demography, Prof. Anatoly Antonov (head of the chair of demography of the department of sociology in Moscow State University, Russia), Igor Beloborodov (director of Demographic Research Institute, Russia) and Olga Antonova (head of the department of statistics for population and healthcare of Russian Statistics Comittee, Russia); and by our colleague Steven Mosher of the Population Research Institute (PRI) (see my blog yesterday commending Steve's message on the birth of baby 7 billion). Do watch the whole discussion on YouTube (click the play button in the box below or watch directly on YouTube). My first contribution starts at around 17 minutes into the video and lasts until 26mins. Anthony's first contribution starts at around 30mins and ends at around 37mins. Our final, briefer contributions start at 1hr04mins. Here are some of the main points I made:
  • Phoney science on population growth has helped to de-sensitise the world, including religious leaders, to the greatest attack on human life in the history of the world.
  • There is no moral leadership in the West seeking to withstand this onslaught on human life, on parental rights, and on conscientious objection to abortion.
  • Unless the pro-life movement worldwide speaks up loud and clear and makes this deplorable situation absolutely clear to Christian pastors, the decline into the destruction of unborn children, the destruction of parents’ rights and responsibilities and the destruction of the health and moral welfare of young people will be completed with terrifying speed.


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Today's must-read pro-life news-stories, Tue 1 Nov

Daniel Sanger with wife Lena
Top stories:

Real crisis in Europe is not enough children say experts
Pro-life experts are warning that the real crisis in Europe is not enough children. Their warning comes as population control advocates lament the birth of the 7 billionth person. Anthony Ozimic of SPUC commented: "What must convince people that they need to be thinking about their children’s generation, their grandchildren’s generation and into the centuries that follow." [KSL.com, 31 October] http://goo.gl/bszVZ

More than half of UK women using contraception use it inconsistently, suggests study
A new study has suggested that 57% of all UK women using contraception use it inconsistently. Many of the women surveyed said that they forget to take the pill. [PA via Yahoo!, 31 October] http://goo.gl/IoGD9 John Smeaton of SPUC commented: "The ineffectiveness of contraceptive practice in real-world conditions results in unplanned pregnancies and leads in turn to more abortions. Morally, medically and practically, contraception is a pillar of the culture of death."

Judge to rule on US man's feeding tube fight between mother and his wife
A US judge is due to rule on whether a disabled man's feeding tube should be removed. Daniel Sanger was left disabled after a heart attack. Lena Sanger, his wife, wants the tube removed, while his brother and mother want it retained. [Mail, 1 November] http://goo.gl/oRaJg

Other stories:

Abortion
Population
Sexual ethics
General
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