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News, weekly update, 19 December
Members of the British cabinet will be permitted to
vote against their government's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill,
according to the Telegraph. Catholic MPs
and members of the cabinet, Ms Ruth Kelly, transport secretary, and Mr Des
Browne, defence secretary, are said to object to the proposed law. Another
catholic cabinet minister, Andy Burnham, is said to be untroubled by the
bill. There had been a suggestion that
the government would 'turn a blind eye' if objectors abstained from voting, but
the permission to vote against the bill is said to have been given after
lobbying by the Catholic Hierarchy. The
Catholic Archbishop of Westminster
has called the bill "profoundly wrong", and the Anglican Archbishop of York
was also sharply critical. [Telegraph,
13 December] By convention, senior ministers support government legislation
or resign.
The British government could let pharmacists supply birth control pills without a prescription. [PA on Channel 4, 12 December] John Smeaton,
SPUC national director, said: "This is all part and parcel
of the government's massive attack on human life and of their total disregard
for the health care of women, particularly young women. Producers of the contraceptive pill are
quite clear that one of the ways in which the pill works is by preventing the
implantation of the newly-conceived human embryo in the lining of the womb. You can be sure of one thing. The
government will not be warning women about the danger of micro-abortions in
their statements and publicity about this service." [SPUC, 12 December] The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG)
has also criticised the scheme. Dr Christine Robinson, vice-president
of the RCOG's Faculty of Sexual and Reproductive Healthcare, warned that the
move could restrict choice as pharmacists will not be able to offer methods
such as the coil, and that there could be safety concerns since an assessment
of the possible risks of using the pill requires medical equipment and
knowledge of the patient's medical history. [Midwifery Digest, 13 December]
SPUC has described aspects of the
government's new schools strategy as "another ratcheting-up of the
targeting of young people to be victims of the culture of death." Paul Tully,
SPUC general secretary, said: "The Children's
Plan promises a review of best practice in sex education. Every review
since 1990 has led to calls for 'more of the same' policy - sex education and wider
provision of sex facilities (abortion, contraception, sex advice) to children and
teenagers. The government's reviewers and advisors are not only committed
to the promotion of explicit sex information and abortion services. Many of them
are actually providers of such services - funded by the government - like Brook,
and the abortion service BPAS." SPUC also accused Mr Ed Balls, the minister responsible, of presenting misleading
data on teenage pregnancy, which has actually increased in recent years. [SPUC, 12 December]
The UK's
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority is to allow embryos to be screened
for a genetic disease that increases the risk of heart disease. The more
serious form of familial hypercholesterolaemia (FH) often kills sufferers
before they reach adulthood, while the milder form is usually controllable
through drugs and diet. A couple, one of whose two children has inherited the
serious form of FH, have received permission to have their embryos screened so
that those affected by FH can be discarded. [Guardian, 15 December, and Times, 15 December]
A national television network in Spain has shown footage of late-term abortions. The abortions, performed at 21 weeks of gestation, were filmed by an undercover journalist for Intereconomia TV posing as a doctor looking for work at the clinic in Madrid. The owner of the clinic, "El Bosque de Madrid" which is a member of the Association of Accredited Clinics for the Interruption of Pregnancy, acknowledged to the reporter that many of the abortions done were of dubious legality, but that clinic staff would always certify that there were legal grounds. Commentary to the programme drew attention to the humanity of the unborn. [LifeSite, 14 December]
To subscribe to SPUC's email information services, please visit www.spuc.org.uk/em-signup. The reliability of the news herein is dependent on that of the cited sources, which are paraphrased rather than quoted. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the society. © Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, 2012
