JOHN SMEATON, DIRECTOR OF SPUC: New attack on unborn babies in Ireland

Monday, 25 November 2013

New attack on unborn babies in Ireland

Top stories:

New attack on unborn babies in Ireland [Pat Buckley, 20 November]

URGENT Ask European Parliament committee to vote against anti-life/anti-family report
Today and tomorrow morning, members of the European Parliament's Women's Rights and Gender Equality Committee (otherwise known as FEMM) will attempt to resurrect the Estrela report, a radical anti-life and anti-family report sent back to the FEMM committee by the European Parliament's plenary session exactly a month ago - see http://spuc-director.blogspot.co.uk/2013/10/breaking-news-pro-life-victory-as.html See SPUC's action alert of 16 October to know why the report is bad and therefore must be rejected: http://www.spuc.org.uk/campaigns/alerts/2013/1016 Tomorrow morning (Tuesday 26 November) the FEMM committee will vote on whether to approve the report and send it forward again to the next month's European Parliament's plenary session. Please email as many members of the FEMM committee as possible to urge them to vote against the Estrela report. > Read more and act now

Other stories:

Abortion

Australian state of Tasmania decriminalises abortion [LifeSiteNews.com, 21 November]

Embryology and stem cell research

Spanish team grows artificial skin using stem cells from umbilical cord [Red Orbit, 22 November]

Euthanasia

Doctor warns of 'utilitarian' anthropology in care of elderly [Aleteia, 25 November]
Belgian Senate will vote on bill to extend euthanasia to children with disabilities on 26 November [Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, 21 November]
A deadly conflict of interest: why euthanasia in Belgium is so out of control [Peter Saunders, 20 November]

Population

No siblings: A side-effect of China's one-child policy [BBC, 22 November] SPUC comment: Readers should note that this BBC report is wrong when it states that the one-child policy will now be relaxed. For the facts, read: Reports of a more lax one-child policy in China 'misleading' [CNA, 15 November]

Sexual ethics

Italian govt makes ‘homophobia’ and ‘transphobia’ crimes - without parliamentary vote [LifeSiteNews.com, 22 November]
Casual sex linked to depression and suicidal thoughts, suggest study [Telegraph, 20 November]

General

Beautiful video of twin babies [Pat Buckley, 20 November]
ESRI 2012 perinatal statistics report for Ireland [Pat Buckley, 19 November]

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About Me

I became involved in SPUC after graduating, when I established a branch in south London in 1974. I have worked full-time for SPUC for 42 years. I became chief executive of SPUC in the UK in 1996, having been general secretary since 1978. I was elected vice-president of International Right to Life Federation in 2005. At UN conferences in Cairo, Copenhagen, Beijing, Istanbul and Rome, I helped coordinate more than 150 pro-life/pro-family groups resulting in pro-life victories in Cairo, Istanbul and Rome. I was educated at Salesian College, London, before going to Oxford where I graduated in English Language and Literature. I qualified as a teacher, becoming head of English at a secondary school. I am married to Josephine. We have a grown-up family and we live in north London.