Lord Carey's trumpet call to Britons

Lord Carey, the former archbishop of Canterbury, sounded a trumpet call yesterday which must resound in all sections of society, throughout Britain. He wrote in the Daily Mail:

"As David Cameron knows, I am very suspicious that behind the [legislative] plans to change the nature of marriage, which come before the House of Lords soon, there lurks an aggressive secularist and relativist approach towards an institution that has glued society together for time immemorial."

Lord Carey went on to say that the Government threatens:

" ... to empty marriage of its fundamental religious and civic meaning as an institution orientated towards the upbringing of children.

"If this is not enough, the legislation fails to provide any protection for religious believers in employment who cannot subscribe to the new meaning of marriage. There will be no exemptions for believers who are registrars. They can expect to be sacked if they cannot, in all conscience, support same-sex marriage.

"Strong legal opinion also suggests that Christian teachers, who are required to teach about marriage, may face disciplinary action if they cannot express agreement with the new politically-correct orthodoxy ... "

May Lord Carey's trumpet sound in the hearts of fellow bishops, Anglican and Catholic, to whom we look to lead Christians and the people of Britain against same-sex legislation which discriminates against children by institutionalising motherless and fatherless families.

May Lord Carey's trumpet sound in the hearts of teachers, headteachers, school governors, and parents who must fight for their fundamental right to teach children about the unchanging nature of marriage as the permanent exclusive union of one man and one woman, a right that threatens to be destroyed by Cameron's legislation.

May Lord Carey's trumpet sound in the hearts of time-serving "Catholic" politicians who are prepared to betray families and children for generations to come for their short-term political advantage - and to betray the founder of their faith, Jesus Christ, who said: ""Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall be joined to his wife and the two shall become one ... "

May Lord Carey's trumpet sound, above all, in the hearts of the ordinary citizens of this country. There is one thing which can beat Cameron and his plan to destroy the family: and that's local leadership. The fundamental group unit of society is not the State; it's not Her Majesty's Government - which has no right to redefine marriage. . The fundamental group unit is the family based upon the marriage of a man and a woman. The State has a duty to serve and protect natural marriage and recognise its primacy, not redefine it.

SPUC and the Coalition for Marriage can beat their drums; we can win the arguments in our briefings, in our public meetings, and in the growing scholarly evidence that same-sex marriage destabilises marriage and family life. But what we need now is local leadership in the towns and villages and cities of Britain, local leaders who will take the message about the terrible threat to marriage and the family to their fellow citizens. Without such local leadership we are wasting our sweetness on the desert air.

SPUC needs leaders to organize leafleting in 120 targeted constituencies. Please pass this message on, sound Lord Carey's trumpet, and let us know if you will help - by leafleting homes, door-to-door, in targeted areas close to you.

For some reason, this Easter weekend, my SPUC email isn't working - so please write to me at johnjsmeaton@gmail.com

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Pray for life in Walsingham on Monday, 8th April

Leeds People For Life are organizing their 10th annual pilgrimage in thanksgiving for the gift of life on Monday, 8th April, next Monday week - and for the intentions of the Pope.

For Catholics in Britain, there can be no more important place to pray for life and for the family than at a shrine of which the history began nearly1000 years ago in 1061.

In the Middle Ages Walsingham was known throughout Europe as Little Nazareth - the home of the Holy Family. During that thousand years, there can never have been a greater peril to the sanctity of life, to marriage and to the family than there is today - threatened as they are are by the policies of David Cameron, Britain's prime minister, and all the leaders of the major parties in Parliament.

As Pope John Paul II said: “ ... a great prayer for life is urgently needed ... ”, Evangelium Vitae 100.

For those making the trip from Yorkshire a coach picks up in a coach picks up: Bradford, Foster Sq. Railway Station at 6-30; at Leeds.Playhouse 6.45; at St Theresa’s Crossgates at 7.00; at Wakefield, Kirkgate at 7.30. The local contact is Annemarie tel 019246948661.  The price for the trip is £16. For further information telephone:  01132582745 or 07747698553.

At the Walsingham shrine, there will be Mass at 12 midday, the feast day of Our Lady of Walsingham - with an afternoon programme including a Holy Hour, Divine Mercy prayers, the Holy mile walk, and Stations of the Cross, plus a visit to the priory grounds or to the Anglican shrine.

I'm sure that travellers from Yorkshire will be delighted to meet with pilgrims from elsewhere on Monday week.  (I shall be in Fatima on that day for the final event in the pilgrimage of the Icon of Our Lady of Czestechowa - when the Icon will reach the Atlantic Ocean after a 65,000 kilometre journey from the coast of the Pacific Ocean at Vladivostok.  During the pilgrimage around 250 thousand leaflets in 15 languages have been distributed and at every destination there has been an act of entrusting the protection of the civilisation of life and love into the hands of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary.)

Given the apparently overwhelming threats facing life, marriage, parents and the family, as a Catholic I believe there's nothing happening in the world on Monday, 8th April, which is more important that the Leeds People for Life pilgrimage to Walsingham.

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African and other nations strike blow for the family at Human Rights Council

I am proud of the work done by Pat Buckley (right), on SPUC's behalf, and on all of our behalves, at the Human Rights Council this past month.

Pat Buckley,who for many years has been lobbying on behalf of SPUC at the Human Rights Council (HRC), has reported to me on an important blow in defence of families by pro-life and pro-family forces in Geneva - and a major embarrassment for Navanethem Pillay, the High Commissioner on Human Rights.

Pat tells me:

"The High Commissioner issued a report on the right of the child to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health. Navanethem Pillay's report was appalling and I immediately set about preparing and sending out an analysis of the report to the delegates at the HRC from friendly nations. I told them:

• This report sets out an agenda for children’s health that includes "comprehensive sexuality education" (CSE), and access to so called "confidential" sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services including abortion.
• It attacks cultural norms and parental rights by identifying barriers, which make access to both CSE and SRH services difficult for children, such as cultural values and parental consent laws.
• The High Commissioner, in the report, erroneously expands the meaning of article 24 of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) claiming that it addresses children's need to access so-called "comprehensive sexuality education" [JS notes: "Comprehensive Sexuality Education" is a term promoted by the UN to include the right of children to access to contraception regardless of age, to abortion, to sex before marriage, same-sex marriage, and masturbation ... all this and more are promoted in the UNFPA-promoted sex education programme "It's all one curriculum" on which I blogged this month two years ago].
• The report then goes on to encourage States to review national laws and policies and, where necessary, amend them to ensure consonance with fulfilling the right of the child to health including the removal of barriers relating to comprehensive sexual and reproductive information and services. The barriers were earlier identified as cultural values and parental consent laws.
• The report cites the Committee on the Rights of the Child, which it says noted its concerns about the impact of highly restrictive abortion laws on the right to health of adolescent girls. The Committee had, it says, requested States to review their legislation on abortion with a view to ensuring that it is in full compliance with the best interests of the child, including by ensuring that single adolescent mothers are allowed access to safe abortions"

Subsequently, Pat tells me, the Human Rights Council held an all day debate on children's rights and, in particular, on the High Commissioner's appalling report. Pat says of the all-day debate:

"Predictably, the report was welcomed by the EU, the US and various other member states. However large groups of states such as the African Group, the Arab Group and the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC) together with a number of individual states rejected the report claiming that the author, on behalf of the High Commissioner, had exceeded his mandate.

"During the debate, the African Group of member nations told the meeting it had been looking forward to the report but that it had concluded it presents a high-risk and culturally insensitive prescription that disregards the priorities of developing countries and departs from the main legal frame of reference embodied in Article 24 of Convention on the Rights of the Child. The African group said:

•  ... The family is the natural and fundamental base unit of society and should be perceived as a valuable asset in protecting children’s rights. Against this backdrop, we are alarmed by how the report tackled the issue of seeking information, education, and counselling by children in a way that severely violated the principle of the responsibilities, rights, and duties of parents in guiding and upbringing their children according to their evolving capacities, including in the area of sexual and reproductive health and its related educational curricula ...
• The report used concepts and notions that lack any basis in International Human Rights Law, in a way that deviates from the international consensus on universally recognized and agreed human rights, prejudges the sovereign right of states to create and enact national legislation that reflect their obligations under international human rights law; and likewise disrespects the diversity of cultural, moral, and religious value systems present in different societies.
• The African Group would like to stress that the occurrence of hazardous behaviors among children, such as sexual activity among minors and drug use, should not be a justification to normalize these practices and accept them. On the contrary, these behaviors must be unequivocally rejected and eradicated through means of parental guidance, awareness, and promotion of abstinence, which the Report failed to realize. Addressing these issues simply from the angle of enhancing precautionary measures while practicing these unacceptable behaviors is counter-productive, and actually makes children more vulnerable to increased risk factors and undermines their right to health.
• In conclusion, the African Group told the meeting that it would like to register its definitive rejection to the methodology and major parts of the content of this document.

The Arab Group, the Organization of Islamic Conference and a number of other member states, made statements, similar to that of the African Group.

The Egyptian delegate told the meeting that his country "express their deepest disappointment at the Report. Instead of providing a contribution to global and national efforts, the report presents a high-risk and culturally insensitive approach that disregards the priorities of the developing countries and departs from the main legal frame of reference embodied in CRC". The Egyptian delegate also said:

"The family is instrumental in protecting children’s rights. Henceforth, we are alarmed that the report tackled the issue of information, education, healthcare services, and counselling by children in clear departure from the principle of the role of parents in guiding and upbringing their children. International human rights law has unambiguously enshrined this principle in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Conference of Population and Development".

A battle royal ensued with the EU and other powerful states ranged against the African Group of nations and their allies. The battle concluded with the High Commissioner's report being effectively rejected by the Human Rights Council. The final resolution on children's health took "note" of the all-day debate and took note of the High Commissioner's report. In UN terms, the practice of "taking note" is interpreted as a rejection.

But most significantly, the resolution added two references to the importance of the family, the first, below, in the preamble and the second, below, in the operative section of the report. The resolution states, inter alia:

• Reaffirming also that the child, for the full and harmonious development of his or her personality, should grow up, in a family environment while the best interest of the child shall be the guiding principle of those responsible for his or her nurture and protection and that families’ and caregivers’ capacities to provide the child with care and safe environment should be promoted
• Reaffirms the responsibilities, rights and duties of parents or, where applicable, the members of the extended family or community as provided for by local custom, legal guardians or other persons legally responsible for the child, to provide, in a manner consistent with the evolving capacities of the child, appropriate direction and guidance in the exercise by the child of their rights

What happened in Geneva is, I hope, a sign of better things to come - and shows what can be done when well-informed lobbying combines with the activities of nations, however weak they may be geopolitically, who are doing their best together to resist the population control imperialistic agenda of powerful western nations.  All in all, it represented an important blow for the family by African and other nations - and a significant embarrassment for the mis-named High Commissioner for Human Rights.

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Be a leader in the campaign to save marriage

On 5th February 2013, the House of Commons voted by 400 to 175 in support of legalising same-sex marriage. It seems likely that the next major vote in the House of Commons – the third reading – will take place towards the end of May. We believe that this bill can still be stopped. But we need your help.

What you can do

We are looking for leaders to volunteer to co-ordinate local leafleting teams against this legislation.

Door-to-door leafleting is the tried and trusted way of reaching large numbers of people with an important message.

We are targeting specific constituencies where we feel the MP might be convinced to either vote against the bill, or at the very least abstain if they voted in favour of it at second reading.

But it is essential, if our leafleting campaign is going to be effective, that it is organised by committed leaders. Can you lead a leafleting team in your constituency or a nearby constituency on our target list? SPUC can give you all the materials you need to lead a local campaign and can help you to recruit local leafleters.

Will you please help us to do everything we can to stop this dangerous legislation?

Please contact me if you are willing to take a lead, so that we can discuss the practicalities: your nearest targeted constituency etc. You can contact me at the email address immediately below this blogpost.

Many people think that letting people with same-sex attraction get married is only fair. They have no idea of the far-reaching effects of such a move. A recent legal opinion has confirmed that:
• churches will be penalised if they refuse to conduct same-sex marriages
• that teachers will lose their jobs if they fail to teach children about same-sex marriages, and
• that parents will not be allowed to withdraw their children from such lessons.

Moreover, if this legislation is passed then motherless and fatherless families will be institutionalised.

Real marriage protects unborn children. Babies conceived outside marriage are four to five times more likely to be aborted. In undermining the true nature of marriage in law we undermine the institution which gives most protection to unborn children.

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Cameron government's social engineering is blatantly designed to hurt children

Under the headline "Taxman hits stay-home mothers", the Telegraph's lead story this morning reports on the British government's economic policies which, it is thought, "are designed to force mothers back to work to boost the economy".

According to the Telegraph, a study published by the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) finds:

• "The average family with one worker and two children loses 27.0 per cent of their wages in tax, compared with 26.2 per cent before the Coalition was elected"
• "The British tax take from traditional families with only one earner is now significantly above the international average"
• "By contrast, single people and two-earner couples have seen their tax bills fall since 2009 as they have benefited from cuts in the tax-free personal allowance and other changes. Both groups also pay tax below the international average"
• "A traditional British family with a stay-at-home mother that is classed by the OECD as well-paid – earning more than double the average wage – will pay 40.5 per cent of their earnings in tax, compared with an international average of 38.6 per cent."  

The Telegraph goes on to explain that government ministers "have stripped high-earning families of child benefit this year – a policy which discriminates against households with a single breadwinner. A £1 billion policy to help families with child care costs announced last week is to be made available only to homes where both parents are working."

All of this is happening at a time when:

• Cameron is personally championing, the Government's Marriage (Same Sex) Couples Bill which will institutionalize fatherless and motherless families - against the wishes of the majority of Tory MPs
• An increasing body of robust research show that children do better when brought up by their biological father and mother who are committed to each other in marriage* (See footnote 5)
• Statistics show that marriage as an institution (the permanent exclusive union of one man and one woman) protects children, both born and unborn** (See footnote 2)
• Research submitted by SPUC to the House of Commons committee examining the government's same-sex marriage bill shows that in countries where marriage is redefined to accommodate same-sex couples, this reinforces the idea that marriage is irrelevant to parenthood and that ...
• ...  Same-sex marriage leads to the casualisation of heterosexual unions and separation of marriage and parenthood

In brief, the flagship economic and marriage policies of the Cameron government amounts to social engineering which could not be more blatantly designed to hurt the children conceived and growing up in Britain.  Please write to your MP today regarding the growing evidence of the government's  policies which so cruelly discriminate against children and their best interests.

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Act to stop Liverpool Care Pathway being used as "backdoor euthanasia"

My colleague, Paul Tully, SPUC's general secretary, has issued the following stark appeal this afternoon concerning the Liverpool Care Pathway.

Please Act Now to stop the Liverpool Care Pathway being used as 

“backdoor euthanasia” for NHS patients

A number of families have spoken out in the media about the abuses their loved ones have suffered as a result of being put on the Liverpool Care Pathway in hospitals and nursing homes.

Several senior doctors have publicly criticised the use of the Pathway, asserting that it can mean hastening death for vulnerable patients. Patients are dying as a result of the Pathway – not simply from their underlying conditions.

In the face of these criticisms, the government asked Baroness Julia Neuberger to chair a “review” panel. The panel is receiving submissions (letters, emails, etc) from anyone with concerns about the Liverpool Care Pathway. Anyone can make a submission, but the experience of those who have been affected is particularly important (such as patients or relatives, healthcare staff, chaplains, visitors, etc).

The deadline for submissions is Friday, 5 April 2013.

Send submissions to:
Liverpool Care Pathway Review
Department of Health
Richmond House
79 Whitehall
London SW1A 2NS

or by email to:
liverpoolcarepathwayreview@dh.gsi.gov.uk

The review panel has not issued a questionnaire or pro-forma for submissions, so you can write to them in any format you wish, but we give some suggestions below about how to set out your concerns.

The composition of the Neuberger review panel includes leading pro-euthanasia advocates – David Aaronovitch and Professor Emily Jackson; and Baroness Neuberger herself has said (in the annual Tyburn lecture in 2011) that she had “ ... some sympathy with the idea that that people who are already terminally ill and finding their situation unbearable, that they should be given the wherewithal to take their own lives ... ”

It is important that they receive clear statements defending vulnerable people (especially the elderly) from attack, whether by medical abuses or by having the law amended or ignored so that vulnerable people can have their lives deliberately shortened by act or by omission. Please point out that the review panel has no brief to recommend weakening legal protection for the lives of patients.

Contact me at johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk for SPUC's briefing on preparing a submission for the Liverpool Care Pathway Review.

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It's essential the pro-life movement learns from its history

SPUC's chairman, Robin Haig, was for 15 years the chairman of the Association of Lawyers for the Defence of the Unborn (ALDU), a body which enjoyed a membership of around three thousand lawyers.

In his must-read ALDU blog, Robin has re-published a review of the Abortion Act 1967, first published in 2002, entitled A BRIEF HISTORY 1966 - 2003.

Robin writes in his introduction to the review:

"Killing unborn children is in itself unjust and could not be accepted in a civilised society. Abortion is seen as a means of effecting social change and, although it has certainly caused great changes in society, those changes have not been those which abortionists claimed would result. The actual changes have been the coarsening of society, the loss of respect for human beings at all stages of life and the promotion of the idea of a life not worth living."

All students of, commentators on - and campaigners against abortion can learn, or be reminded of, key facts about the British Abortion Act 1967, including:

• The Abortion Act was introduced to Parliament as a private member's bill but " ... the Labour Government of the day, and especially the then Home Secretary Roy Jenkins (the late Lord Jenkins of Hillhead), bent over backwards to help the Bill, allowing extra time and giving support and advice ... ".
• At the Bill's Second Reading on 22nd July 1966, the Bill's promoter Mr David Steel declared in the House of Commons:"We want to stamp out back-street abortions, but it is not the intention of the Promoters of the Bill to leave a wide open door for abortion on request”.
• From May 1968 onwards, the number of abortions carried out rose immediately. In 1968 the total number of abortions notified to the Department of Health was 29,581. In 1969 it was 56,890, and in 1970 the total had risen to 88,587.
• In July 1972 a Dr John Anthony James Smith was found guilty, after a 14-day trial, of performing an illegal abortion, a decision that was upheld on appeal. The facts of the case read like a horror story,but the sentence received by the abortionist at his trial at the Central Criminal Court in London was a mere 12-month prison sentence and a fine of £5,000.The prosecuting authorities not only held back from trying to bring prosecutions, but there also seemed to be a deliberate policy on the part of the Department of Health not to investigate abuses and contraventions of the 1967 Act.
• During the 1970s and 1980s Bills intended to amend the Abortion Act were introduced by Mr. Norman St John Stevas, Mr Godman Irvine, Mr James White, Mr William Benyon, Mr John Corrie, Mr Nicholas Winterton, Mr Kenneth Hargreaves and perhaps most famously, in 1988, by Mr David Alton (now Lord Alton of Liverpool).
• The [Alton] Bill was, in our opinion, fatally flawed from the outset and, probably because of this, became worse as time went by.

It's essential that the pro-life movement learns from its history - and especially from the mistakes made in the struggle to win protection for unborn children.  There's no better place to start learning than in the pages and posts of ALDU.

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Easter Sunday gift to unborn children in The Philippines

 Francisco "Kit" Tatad
former head of the Philippines senate 
& International Right to Life Federation 
board member

I welcome today's news of a temporary halt to anti-life legislation in The Philippines. Any check on the pro-abortion lobby, as they seek to trample on nations like Ireland and The Philippines where the people have historically striven to protect unborn children, is a very good thing and is prophetic of more good things to come, with the help of God.

The news comes from Brad Mattes, president of International Right to Life Federation (IRLF) - an organization of which I have the honour to be joint vice-president alongside my colleague, Jim Hughes, the President of Campaign Life Coalition in Canada.

International Right to Life Federation reports:

Pro-life advocates enjoyed an important victory when the Supreme Court of the Philippines put a temporary hold to enacting the anti-life Reproductive Health Law. The legislation had been scheduled to take effect on Easter Sunday, 31 March. However, several constitutional challenges arose. This controversial Reproductive Health Law has been met with strong opposition due to its inclusion of abortifacients. In a 10-5 vote, a 120-day stay was given pending oral arguments slated for 18 June.

Brad Mattes commended the decision saying:

“This is a positive move in respect for life. It is my hope that this temporary hold becomes permanent, thereby protecting the lives of vulnerable women and children in the Philippines.”

Pray for the beautiful Filipino people. I have been privileged to have been invited to speak about abortion in the Philippines on four occasions and I have often written about the relentless pressures brought to bear by the international pro-abortion lobby to impose extreme population control measures on this family-loving country.

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The dire situation on adoption reveals the cruel illogicality of abortion

A parliamentary committee, the House of Lords Select Committee on Adoption Legislation, has just published a report into adoption in the UK. The Committee reached this conclusion [my emphasis in bold]:

Changes in societal attitudes and the effects on adoption

16. From the peak of nearly 25,000 in 1968, the annual number of adoptions has fallen steadily, and only 3,450 children were adopted in 2011-12. This decline in numbers reflects the changing purpose of adoption over recent decades. During the peak years of adoption, 51% of all adoptions were of babies, and 92% of adoptions were of 'illegitimate' children.[10] Changes in societal attitudes, coupled with the improved availability of contraception and the legislation on abortion[11], along with increases in financial support for single mothers, have reduced the number of children being given up for adoption. This means that very few children under 12 months are adopted—only 70 babies were adopted in 2011-12.[12] There is, however, the potential for many more babies to be adopted: at 31 March 2012 there were 3,670 looked-after children under 12 months for whom a local authority had decided that adoption would meet their best interests; when and if a placement order is secured, these children may be placed for adoption.[13]

10 Professor N V Lowe, Cardiff Law School, written evidence
11 The Abortion Act 1967 came into force on 27 April 1968. Nearly 190,000 abortions took place in England and Wales in 2011 compared with 22,332 in 1968 https://www.wp.dh.gov.uk/transparency/files/2012/05/Commentary1.pdf
12 Statistical First Release, Children looked after in England (including adoption and care leavers) year ending 31 March 2012, Department for Education, 25 September 2012: http://www.education.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s001084/sfr20-2012v3.pdf
13 HL Deb, 8 January 2013, WA3 [HL4259]

Reflecting upon this, I was reminded of the incredibly crass comments by the late Richard Crossman MP in the House of Commons in 1970, when he was Secretary of State for Social Services:

"[T]here has been a great increase in the number of abortions performed and that 20,000 illegitimate children would be alive today—with all the consequences of that—if it were not for the Act ... I have no doubt whatever that the result of the Act as it is at present being administered is socially beneficial."

So the evidence suggests that:

• the government of the day believed that it is "socially beneficial" and preferable that unborn children be killed rather than be reared outside of marriage
• some of the fall in the numbers of infants available for adoption is because of abortion
• abortion and contraception have not solved the problem of large numbers of infants being taken into care
• there is a continuing prejudice against adoption
• many infants are candidates for adoption but are not adopted, even though there are large numbers of couples (often infertile) who are very keen (even desperate) to raise a child.

This reveals the cruel illogicality of abortion. Abortion reduces the value of children to the level of disposable burdens, either to be aborted, denied their right to be raised by their natural parents or dumped into the hands of the state, while politicians cry crocodile tears over a crisis in adoption services.

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SPUC attacks hypocrisy of IVF pioneer over eugenics warning

Top story:

SPUC attacks hypocrisy of IVF pioneer over eugenics warning
SPUC has attacked as hypocritical comments by Professor Lord (Robert) Winston warning about eugenics. Lord Winston was due to say in a lecture that people should be "on guard against" a resurgence of eugenics due to outdated controls on reproductive technology. John Smeaton, SPUC director, told the Scotsman newspaper: 
“Dr Robert Winston is the prophet of the reproductive technology industry and what he does is sound a very hypocritical note and tone of alarm about such developments and then we find a few months later he says there’s nothing to worry about. He positions himself as a responsible scientist, then, at the same time, he is a champion of the reproductive industry with its ‘create and discard’ attitude to human life. For every birth using IVF, 23 foetuses are rejected, discarded or used in experiments, those are totally unique human beings. This is part and parcel of the control scientist seek over human life, and I am not at all surprised by this development.” [Scotsman, 18 March]

Other stories:

Abortion

• Abortionist Kermit Gosnell “routinely cracked jokes about babies whose necks he had just slit” [NRL, 18 March]
• Abortionists agree – abortion is killing [NRL, 18 March]

Euthanasia

• Care staff dismissed elderly as 'lost causes', finds inspection [Telegraph, 19 March]
• Belgium becomes world leader in organ removal after euthanasia [Peter Saunders, 16 March]

Population

• Britain unprepared for inversion of demographic pyramid, warns parliamentary committee [Peter Saunders, 16 March]

Sexual ethics

• Scottish church hounded from hotel over opposition to gay marriage [Christian Institute, 19 March]
• Crucial difference between infertile heterosexual union and impotent homosexual unions, argues writer [Mercator.net, 19 March]
• If two lesbians, why not two sisters? [Mercator.net, 18 March]
• Membership falls 35% at local Tory group over gay marriage [Christian Institute, 11 March]

General

• Software company refuses service to pro-life group over abortion, marriage views [LifeSiteNews.com, 18 March]

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Must-read pro-life news-stories, Fri 15 Mar

Top story:

Northern Ireland pro-lifers ready to respond to abortion guidelines
SPUC, which twice forced the Northern Ireland Department of Health to withdraw misleading guidelines on the Province’s abortion law, has said it will not hesitate to go back to court if that is the only way it can ensure that unborn children receive the full protection provided under Northern Ireland law. SPUC was responding to the news that Edwin Poots, the health minister, has circulated draft guidelines to the Northern Ireland Executive. They are expected to be published by the end of March. The guidelines will then be the subject of a 16-week public consultation. [SPUC, 8 March]

Other stories:

Abortion

• Comic Relief misleads the Catholic Church about abortion support [John Smeaton, 15 March]
• Abortion figures in Sweden have increased since introduction of morning-after pill [The Local, 15 March]

Euthanasia

• Scottish pro-euthanasia doctor reveals how he gave sleeping pills to elderly couple [Mail, 13 March]
• Paralysed man joins Nicklinson euthanasia appeal case [Scotsman, 15 March]

Sexual ethics

• Bishop says Catholic charities 'dangerously imperiled' by Colorado civil unions bill [LifeSiteNews.com, 14 March]
• Group marriage is next, admits Dutch ‘father’ of gay ‘marriage’ [LifeSiteNews.com, 12 March]
• Russian Orthodox Church issues powerful statement against same-sex marriage move in UK [John Smeaton, 8 March]

General:

• Welcome Pope Francis, defender of parents, children and marriage [John Smeaton, 14 March]
• New video! SPUC International Youth Conference 2013 [SPUC youth blog, 13 March]
• Leading experts will address SPUC's int'l youth conference, 22-24 March [John Smeaton, 11 March]

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Comic Relief misleads the Catholic Church about abortion support

I have today been forwarded the following letter from Comic Relief to the Catholic Education Service (CES) which reads in full:

[To:]
Gregory Pope
Deputy Director
Catholic Education Service
39 Eccleston Square
London SW1V 1BX

4th February 2013

Dear Mr Pope,

We know that misinformed publicity about Comic Relief has caused considerable confusion and distress in the past, particularly among Catholic schools wanting to support Red Nose Day and Sport Relief. So in 2000, we opened up a dialogue with the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales to help communicate the facts.

At that time, they issued a statement confirming that, after careful examination of our records, they were satisfied with Comic Relief’s assurance that we do not fund and have never funded abortion services or the promotion of abortions. The Bishops’ Conference and the Department of International Affairs confirmed that they were confident that Catholics may continue to support Comic Relief’s fundraising initiatives in good faith. Our commitment remains the same.

Our international funding goes to all kinds of projects – providing education, rehabilitating child soldiers, peace-building, fair trade, supporting street children and a range of other work helping people in the world's poorest countries to turn their lives around.

This includes over £13.6m of grants to more than 50 projects managed by the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD) and the Scottish Catholic International Aid Fund (SCIAF) for work across Africa, Asia and South America.

Yours sincerely,

Aleks Leimanis
Schools & Youth Manager
Comic Relief

Comic Relief’s "assurance that [it] do[es] not fund and have never funded abortion services or the promotion of abortions" is highly misleading. Comic Relief has for many years funded organisations which perform and/or promote abortion - see our charities bulletin entry dated 6 February this year and older information in our 2006 charities bulletin. Comic Relief has funded, among others:

• the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) (screenshot below from Comic Relief website), the world's largest provider and promoter of abortion
• African Initiatives (screenshot below from Comic Relief website), for a project "on women's rights specifically in the areas of sexual and reproductive health". Such language is commonly used, either as technical language or euphemistically, to denote abortion on demand
• Womankind (screenshot below from Comic Relief website), a radical pro-abortion group which attacks the Catholic Church for upholding the sanctity of human life - see my blog "The Tablet helps radical pro-abortion group raise money"
• Brook (screenshot below from Comic Relief website), one of the UK's leading pro-abortion organisations
• Marie Stopes International (MSI), another of the world's largest abortion providers
• Population Concern, which promotes abortion out of 'concern that the world is over-populated
• Reproductive Health Alliance Europe
• Save the Children (screenshot below from Comic Relief website), which supports abortion and promotes contraception
• Oxfam (screenshot below from Comic Relief website), which has a long history of support for abortion
• The African Women's Development fund (AWDF) (screenshot below from Comic Relief website), for a project supporting "reproductive health" and "sexual minorities". The AWDF charter of feminist principles proclaims its commitment to "Freedom of choice and autonomy regarding bodily integrity issues, including reproductive rights, abortion, sexual identity and sexual orientation"
• Barnardo's (screenshot below from Comic Relief website). Barnardo's runs the Young Womens London Project which offers a 'sexual health service'. Through the service "young women can access a nurse for free condoms, contraception (including emergency contraception) pregnancy testing and advice about abortion/termination." The Barnardo's website recommends the websites of Marie Stopes International and the Family Planning Association, two of the UK's leading abortion agencies
• Terrence Higgins Trust (screenshot below from Comic Relief website), one of the leading lobby groups promoting homosexuality.

This list is by no means exhaustive  - go to http://www.comicrelief.com/how-we-help , click on 'Search' on the bottom right-hand corner of the map, and in the 'Type keywords' box, enter the search-terms "sexual" or "reproductive" or "gay".

It is simply unethical for anyone - let alone Catholic schools - to raise money for Comic Relief, that massive bankroller of the culture of death.

Comic Relief funds IPPF

Comic Relief funds African Initiatives

Comic Relief funds Womankind

Comic Relief funds Brook

 

Comic Relief funds Save the Children

Comic Relief funds Oxfam

Comic Relief funds African Women's Development Fund

Comic Relief funds Barnardo's

Comic Relief funds Terrence Higgins Trust

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Welcome Pope Francis, defender of parents, children and marriage

On behalf of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, I welcome Pope Francis I.

Along with countless others worldwide - in the blogosphere and in the news media - I note his words as Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio when a bill to legalise same-sex marriage was proposed in Argentina:

"Let's not be naive, we're not talking about a simple political battle; it is a destructive pretension against the plan of God. We are not talking about a mere bill, but rather a machination of the Father of Lies that seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God."

He continued: "At stake is the identity and survival of the family: father, mother and children. At stake are the lives of many children who will be discriminated against in advance, and deprived of their human development given by a father and a mother and willed by God. At stake is the total rejection of God’s law engraved in our hearts."

And along with countless others around the world, I will be praying for Pope Francis I, not least that he continues to defend with great courage mothers and fathers, children and marriage throughout his pontificate.

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Cardinal Scola's championship of family is highlighted by Pontifical Council on eve of papal election

I am encouraged to notice that, on the eve of the conclave, the Pontifical Council for the Family has published Cardinal Angelo Scola's recent, profoundly topical and relevant, opening address at the recent 7th World Meeting of Families in Milan.

Cardinal Scola, the archbishop of Milan, who served as Patriarch of Venice from 2002 - 2011, said that the church's "passionate" care for the family was a "decisive contribution" for each person and for "today's society and that of the future".

He said: "It is a contribution to civilization, because the family is the appropriate place of procreation and education understood as an introduction to the whole person to all of reality".

I am encouraged that the Pontifical Council for the Family has put the central moral and political issue of the modern world - the family as "the appropriate place of procreation and education" - centre stage as the papal election commences.

At a time when the British government is seeking to institutionalise fatherless families and motherless families by legalizing same-sex marriage, and "gay marriage" is being championed by the world's most powerful politician, Barack Obama, the US president, let's pray that Cardinal Scola's sentiments concerning the family are "centre stage" in the cardinals' considerations and decision in the week ahead.

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Leading experts will address SPUC's int'l youth conference, 22-24 March

Here's a letter to all young people who are interested in supporting the pro-life movement, in Britain and overseas, from Anthony McCarthy, SPUC's education and publications manager:

There are less than 2 weeks left until the start of the SPUC's international pro-life youth conference 2013. This conference has proven a huge success in providing students and young adults with the knowledge, contacts, and motivation to be actively pro-life at their universities, in their parishes, with their friends, and in society at large. Every year we provide an expert line-up of speakers from all over the world, a comfortable venue, a well structured programme for each day, and plenty of time to socialise and make friends.

This year’s conference, from Friday 22nd to Sunday 24th March, is the most important one ever. Why? Because, on top of the culture of death we already have (abortion, IVF, embryo research, spreading euthanasia, harmful sex education in schools), we now face a future, if the Government’s legislation is not defeated, where the institution of marriage has been undermined and emptied of its meaning in law; the connection between marriage and the procreation, protection, and education of children has been utterly severed.

There simply are no better leading experts around to address subjects such as e.g. the Liverpool Care Pathway than Professor Patrick Pullicino and than Dr Helen Watt on the ethics of pregnancy.

The international youth conference is our investment in the future of our families and society. It takes place at the Hayes Conference Centre, Swanwick, Derbyshire.”

“The atmosphere at the conference was spell-binding and I’m so glad we had the opportunity to attend such a life changing event!...It created an unbreakable sense of unity and friendship between us all. It has opened my mind to a whole new approach to pro-life and everything it stands to protect and defend.” – Student attendee, 2012

Therefore, please, if you can, take the time to publicise and help young members of your parish (aged 16 upwards) to come to the youth conference. We urgently need people to book now in order to make the conference a success.

There is nothing like it on offer at present and it is crucial for the future of the Pro-Life cause that young people attend in numbers and get seriously informed about the issues that face us all.

Sincere thanks in advance in helping provide this vital opportunity for our young people.

For booking information and a conference timetable please ring 020 7091 7091 or email: conference@spuc.org.uk or visit: 

http://www.spuc.org.uk/youth/international_youth_conference

Yours gratefully

Anthony McCarthy
Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC)
Education and Publications Manager
anthonymccarthy@spuc.org.uk
020 7820 3144

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Northern Ireland pro-lifers ready to respond to abortion guidelines

SPUC, which twice forced the Northern Ireland Department of Health to withdraw misleading guidelines on the Province’s abortion law, has said it will not hesitate to go back to court if that is the only way it can ensure that unborn children receive the full protection provided under Northern Ireland law.

SPUC was responding to today’s news that Edwin Poots, the health minister, has circulated draft guidelines to the Northern Ireland Executive. They are expected to be published by the end of March. The guidelines will then be the subject of a 16-week public consultation.

Liam Gibson, SPUC's development officer, told the media earlier today:

“When abortion advocates first called for guidelines for doctors in 2001, they argued that it was necessary because the law was unclear. After 10 years of litigation over guidelines, no-one can claim that any more. The law is perfectly clear. Abortion is presumptively illegal and remains a criminal offence. 

"The Attorney General plainly spelt this out, by explaining that an abortion carried out in Northern Ireland MAY not result in criminal liability if, at a trial, a jury considers that the person who procured it was suitably qualified and had reasonable grounds for believing that the continuation of the pregnancy would have created a risk to the life of the mother. Abortion of children because they are disabled is always unlawful.

The requirement for doctors to record the reason for authorising an abortion is definitely welcome. The pro-life movement has repeatedly warned that until doctors are made accountable for their decisions there will always be a risk of illegal abortions taking place in secret.

We will be looking very closely at the draft guidelines and will be encouraging our supporters to take part in the consultation process."

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Russian Orthodox Church issues powerful statement against same-sex marriage move in UK

The Russian Orthodox Church, via its Moscow Patriarchate, has issued the powerful statement below (read in full below) against the move for same-sex marriage in the UK and elsewhere. I wish particularly to highlight this passage:

"In the countries which have embarked on the path of a radical revision of traditional family ethics, this process has resulted in a demographic crisis which is growing from year to year. The revision of fundamental norms of family law on which the human community has been built for centuries and which are preserved as before in the moral code of major world religions is a path leading to the self-liquidation of whole nations."

That is one of the reasons why SPUC as a pro-life organisation campaigns against same-sex marriage.

Do also read my recent blog: "Russian parliament and British government move in opposite directions on sexualisation of children". SPUC has forged close links with Russian pro-lifers, including Russian Orthodox clergy in the UK and Russia itself.

Statement by Communication Service of Moscow Patriarchate Department for External Church Relations on recent changes in family laws in France and Great Britain

5.03.2013

Same-sex unions have continued to be legalized in Europe. Recently, respective bills have been approved by the lower chambers of the French and British parliaments. It was done not only in defiance of the opinion of a part of deputies but also against the background of mass protest manifestations of citizens.

These legislative steps show that a revolution is taking place in the European societies’ understanding of marriage as such. The legal recognition of homosexual unions and their equating to marriage is a revolution is the sphere of legislative norms regulating family relations including the norms concerning taxation, education, healthcare, upbringing of children, etc.

The legalization of same-sex unions is another step towards an attempt to give an absolutely new meaning to marriage and the family directly opposite to the Christian one. Basically, this process involves connivance at individualism and hedonism on the scale of society and state and ultimately on the scale of the whole humanity.

In the countries which have embarked on the path of a radical revision of traditional family ethics, this process has resulted in a demographic crisis which is growing from year to year. The revision of fundamental norms of family law on which the human community has been built for centuries and which are preserved as before in the moral code of major world religions is a path leading to the self-liquidation of whole nations.

The legislative norm allowing homosexual unions to adopt and raise children appear especially dangerous. Evidently, these children will develop a view of parents, family and moral and social values completely different from the traditional ones. All this will contribute to further obliteration of differences between the sexes and subsequently to forcing out from public conscience the image of woman as mother, wife and guardian of the household. The final rejection of the idea that man and woman have special vocations and complement each other in family life threatens with destructive consequences for both the individual and society.

The Russian Orthodox Church preserves and defends the primary Christian understanding of marriage and family, sanctifies marital relations in the church Sacrament and asserts the importance of marriage for the wellbeing and development of society as a whole.

Our Church expresses her solidarity with Christians, adherents to other religions and those proponents of non-religious worldviews who have preserved the traditional understanding of marriage as union of man and woman and come out against the attempts to use a radical legal reform to impose on the whole society a different understanding of marriage unprecedented in human history.

Aware of the danger of these processes, we believe it important to develop dialogue with all the public forces, both religious and non-religious, who support the traditional ideas of family values. This criterion is one of the most important ones in the Russian Orthodox Church’s choice of partners in inter-Christian and interreligious dialogues.

DECR Communication Service

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Watch this inspiring video calling youth to pro-life activism

One of SPUC's young team has produced an inspiring video calling young people to pro-life activism. Do watch this video either below or on SPUC's channel on YouTube and share it with your contacts.



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Must-read pro-life news-stories, Thu 7 March

Top stories:

Same-sex 'marriage' has negative effects, shows latest evidence
The experience of legalising marriage for same-sex couples in Europe and North America shows that such legalisation has negative effects for real marriage and for families, shows latest evidence. The evidence was presented to the House of Commons committee examining the Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill, in a written submission by Dr Patricia Morgan, the British family policy researcher, on behalf of SPUC. The submission can be read in full at www.spuc.org.uk/campaigns/ssmsub20130301 [SPUC, 2 March]

New abortion law in Northern Ireland reflects alarm about Marie Stopes
New legislation on abortion introduced to the Northern Ireland Assembly is a response to the level of public concern aroused by the arrival in Northern Ireland of Marie Stopes International (MSI). The opening of the MSI abortion facility in Belfast in October last year left the Assembly with no choice but to address the threat posed by abortion businesses determined to defy the existing law. [SPUC, 27 February]

Northern Ireland abortion court-case shows abortion-lobby desperate, says SPUC
SPUC, which twice forced the Northern Ireland Department of Health to withdraw misleading guidance on the Province’s abortion law, has said that abortion advocates are becoming increasingly frustrated at the lack of success they have had in winning support for their agenda. SPUC made its remarks as an application for a judicial review brought by the Family Planning Association of Northern Ireland was beginning in the High Court in Belfast. [SPUC, 27 February]

Other stories:

Abortion

• Ireland's Catholic bishops issue statement re abortion law plans [Irish Times, 7 March]
• UN report criticises Ireland on abortion [Irish Times, 6 March]
• Swiss bishops okay 'morning after' pill in rape cases [WRS, 6 March]
• Irish, British & European politicians defend anti-abortion laws in Ireland [John Smeaton, 1 March]

Embryology

• IVF wiped out my life savings and left me a mess, says TV star Lisa Faulkner [Mail, 6 March]

Euthanasia

• Pensioner placed on Liverpool Care Pathway without family's permission dies after 8 days without food or water [Mail, 6 March]

Sexual ethics

• Read this excellent analysis of the same-sex marriage debate [John Smeaton, 7 March]
• Finland rejects same-sex marriage Bill [Christian Institute, 7 March]
• Ruling upheld that Scottish Catholic charity must accept adoption applications from gay couples [Pink News, 6 March]
• SPUC quoted in this story: The Bitter Pill: UK’s Tablet calls for Church to abandon fight against ‘gay marriage’ [LifeSiteNews.com, 5 March] Anthony Ozimic, SPUC's communications manager, said: “One of the most practical tributes that Catholics in the UK can pay to Pope-emeritus Benedict would be to eliminate The Tablet from Catholic life. The Tablet is a tool of ‘the dictatorship of relativism’ which Pope Benedict condemned so forcefully. It has given succour to many of the lobbies which constitute the culture of death.” Related blog: The Tablet tells the Catholic Church to surrender [John Smeaton, 1 March]
• Poland: Deputies strike down three civil partnership bills [Pink News, 1 March]

General

• ‘Dark horse’ cardinals: their positions on life and family and faith issues - Part I [LifeSiteNews.com, 6 March]

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Read this excellent analysis of the same-sex marriage debate

Matthew McCusker, one of SPUC's youth bloggers, has written an excellent analysis of the same-sex marriage debate, entitled  "Is the true nature of marriage self-evident?"

Matthew's analysis starts by posing the problem that:

"[I]t is becoming increasingly clear that our society no longer possesses a clear definition of marriage ... How has our society come to be divided into two such irreconcilable factions, with one group holding as self-evident something which is now incomprehensible to the other?"

Matthew continues:

"To help answer this question I wish to consider the matter in the light of the philosophy of St Thomas Aquinas. This is primarily a philosophical question and I hope that the following discussion will be of interest to people of all religious backgrounds and none."

He concludes by stating:

"It is only when the true meaning of marriage is fully understood that it will once again become self-evident to all that two men or two women can never enter into the specific kind of union that marriage involves."

Do read Matthew's insightful blog-post in full.

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