Society for the Protection of Unborn Children
3 Whitacre Mews, Stannary Street
London, SE11 4AB, United Kingdom
Telephone: (020) 7091 7091
Fax: (020) 7820 3131
Email: information@spuc.org.uk

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28 November 2002

Dana Rosemary Scallon, a prominent pro-life member of the European parliament from Ireland, has announced that she is considering high court action if the Irish government fails to protect the constitutional right of Irish taxpayers not to fund abortions through the European Union. Poul Nielson, the European commissioner for development, announced in September that an additional 34 million euro in EU funds would be granted to the pro-abortion United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), the world's largest abortion promoter, for so-called reproductive health projects in 22 developing countries. Dana said: "The EU has no legal competence in the area of abortion, yet Commissioner Nielson has ensured that EU taxpayers' money will be used to provide abortion services. This is an illegal use of European citizens' tax money and is, in the case of Ireland, unconstitutional." [Dana, 26 November] SPUC applauded Dana's courageous stand in favour of the unborn and in support of Ireland's right as a sovereign country to act in accordance with its pro-life constitution.


The Roman Catholic Church has reiterated its condemnation of human cloning after Dr Severino Antinori claimed that three woman were expecting cloned babies in January. Fr Gino Concetti, described as the Vatican's top moral theologian, pointed out that Dr Severino's claims had not been proved and were nothing more than "hypothetical" at present, but he insisted that "human cloning directly offends the dignity of the human being and God's plan for procreation". [Reuters, 27 November]


A Catholic priest in the Philippines has won both praise and condemnation for his refusal to give communion to women who are using abortifacient intra-uterine devices (IUDs). Fr Joseph Schwegmann insisted that women had the devices removed before they could be re-admitted to communion, and at least 24 women have heeded him. While the pro-abortion Population Commission condemned the priest's stand, the vicar general of his diocese praised him and insisted that the use of IUDs was a grave sin. [LifeSite, 27 November] The IUD - also known as the coil - is thought to work by preventing the implantation of a newly conceived embryo in the lining of his or her mother's womb. This means that it causes an abortion. Intentionally procuring an abortion results in automatic excommunication from the Catholic Church pending repentance and absolution.


A 28-year-old woman in Nuneaton, England, has given birth to a healthy baby whose twin had died in an ectopic pregnancy. Emma Stafford, 28, was distraught earlier this year when she learned that her unborn child had implanted in the fallopian tube rather than in the womb and had to be removed. However, when she returned to the hospital nine weeks later because she had not lost any weight since the removal, doctors were amazed to discover that she was still pregnant with another child developing as normal in the womb. The hospital's head of communications said that the case was "very, very rare indeed". [icCoventry, 28 November]


A bankruptcy reform bill has failed in the US congress because it included a provision to prevent anti-abortion protesters from seeking bankruptcy protection against fines imposed as a result of their protests. The Republican leadership of the House of Representatives urged conservative pro-life Republicans to support the bill earlier this month, but 87 Republicans rebelled against the party line and voted against the bill with the Democrats (who opposed the measure for different reasons). This week an attempt to reach a deal on the bill in a House-Senate conference also failed. [PPI, 27 November; via Northern Light]