News, weekly summary 16 October 2009

Abortion
  • Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are calling for compulsory school-lessons to combat opposition to the Lisbon treaty, including claims that the treaty could result in abortion bans being over-turned. The calls are being led by the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) bloc and by Mario David, a Portuguese MEP. Mr David said: "All the debates about the constitution and then the Lisbon Treaty showed a great deal of lying, cheating and mistrust about the EU. In Ireland people were told there was going to be abortion across the EU, that young men would be conscripted into a European Army. This was a bunch of lies." [Telegraph, 15 October] http://is.gd/4m0o0 Anthony Ozimic of SPUC commented: "It would be a totalitarian abuse of power to use the school system to brain-wash pupils into rejecting the well-founded concerns by pro-life groups regarding the Lisbon treaty."
  • A former Peruvian health minister says pro-abortion feminist groups make false claims regarding illegal abortion numbers. Luis Solari said that when minister of health he was able to confirm that the figures claimed by pro-abortion groups were several times higher than the official figures. Mr Solari also said the pro-abortion groups in Peru were receiving money from foreign groups in order to change the law. [Catholic News Agency, 15 October] http://is.gd/4m3eH SPUC has pointed out that a new report on worldwide abortion rates by the pro-abortion Alan Guttmacher Institute also relies upon highly spurious guesstimates. The pro-abortion lobby has a proven track record of exaggerating illegal abortions numbers. [SPUC, 14 October] http://is.gd/4msvB
  • SPUC has condemned as false a new report into worldwide abortion rates by a pro-abortion body. The report, by the Alan Guttmacher Institute, claims that abortion bans are ineffectual and that 70,000 women a year die from unsafe illegal abortions. Anthony Ozimic of SPUC commented: "The Guttmacher report is not independent academic research but propaganda from the pro-abortion lobby. Guttmacher's figures are based on highly spurious guesstimates, which even the report itself is forced to admit. The pro-abortion lobby has a proven track record of exaggerating illegal abortions numbers. Abortion numbers in Britain today are many times higher than before the 1967 Abortion Act, despite ever-increasing access to birth control drugs and devices." [SPUC, 14 October] http://is.gd/4kDJr
  • Peru's Catholic bishops have condemned a bill to allow abortion in the cases of rape and foetal deformity. The Peruvian bishops' conference said: "[H]ow can we accept the death penalty for an embryo that hasn't even had the time to commit a mistake and cannot even defend itself?" The bill has been approved by a committee and is due to be debated by the full Peruvian Congress. [Channel News Asia, 13 October] http://is.gd/4gSnq
  • SPUC has criticised the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize to Barack Obama, the American president. John Smeaton, SPUC director, said: "This is the same Barack Obama, one of whose first actions as president was to sign an order to abort the world's poor. I am sorely tempted to believe that if she was alive today, Mother Teresa would return her Nobel Prize at the award to Barack Obama, 'The Abortion President'." [John Smeaton, 9 October] http://is.gd/4f3x8 Pro-life leaders have also criticised the Vatican's spokesman for welcoming the award to Mr Obama. Fr Federico Lombardi, the spokesman, said the award to Mr Obama "was greeted with appreciation at the Vatican". An anonymous pro-lifer leader said: "If Obama was good on international peace and nuclear disarmament but favored the killing of Jews, it's not likely he would get either the Noble Peace Prize or be praised by the Vatican." [LifeSiteNews.com, 9 October] http://is.gd/4f5t1
  • A new statistical study into abortion in France has shown a huge rise in abortions since the procedure was legalised in 1974. Between 1974 and 2004, abortions increased from 40% to 60%. Chantal Blayot, professor of demography at Montesquieu-Bordeau IV, there is "a strong social pressure to abort" in France. [LifeSiteNews.com, 8 October] http://is.gd/46g6p
  • SPUC has criticised the comments of an African bishop who said the election of Barack Obama as American president was a divine sign. Laurent Monsengwo Pasinya, archbishop of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, told the Synod for Africa currently meeting in Rome that the election of a black US president was a "sign from the Holy Spirit for the reconciliation of races and ethnic groups, for peaceful human relations." Anthony Ozimic of SPUC told LifeSiteNews.com: "In their concern for the advancement of black people, church leaders must not omit to condemn President Obama's pro-abortion policies. Black Catholic and Christian pro-life leaders in both America and Africa regard Mr Obama's presidency as a disaster for black unborn children. Abortion is the deepest antithesis of reconciliation and peaceful human relations. If, instead of killing unborn children, Mr Obama's policies killed, for example, Catholic priests, would Archbishop Monsengwo regard Mr Obama's election as a positive, divine sign? Are unborn children any less deserving of the right to life than Catholic priests?" [LifeSiteNews.com, 7 October] http://is.gd/44iAM
  • A new type of morning-after pill is now being sold in Britain. Ulipristal (ellaOne) is reportedly effective up to five days after sexual intercourse. HRA Pharma, the manufacturer, states that "alterations to the endometrium may also contribute to ulipristal's efficacy." [The Pharmaceutical Journal, 7 October] http://is.gd/426mA Changes to the endometrium (lining of the womb) may prevent a newly-conceived embryonic child from implanting, thereby causing an abortion.
  • A vote by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) on a pro-abortion report has been postponed, reportedly because of pro-life opposition. The report, by Christine McCafferty, the British veteran anti-life MP, was due to be debated and voted upon last Friday (2 October). The European Centre for Law and Justice (ECLJ), which opposes the report, said that Mrs McCafferty had asked for the delay. [John Smeaton, 3 October] http://is.gd/3Y0W1
  • Dana Rosemary Scallon, the pro-life former politician, has called upon Irish voters not to be afraid to vote no in Friday's referendum on the Lisbon treaty. In a press statement, Mrs Scallon said that the guarantees obtained by the Irish government from the European Union (EU) on abortion are "worthless". She also said that "voting no will protect Ireland's Constitution in matters such as the definition and protection of the family, children's rights, parent's rights [and] the protection of life and the child embryo". [John Smeaton, 29 September] http://is.gd/3Ok71

Embryology; fertility treatment; stem cells
  • Adult stem cells have been used to make a jawbone joint. Scientists from Columbia university, America, used bone marrow cells. Wesley J. Smith, the American bioethicist, commented: "We can look forward to a remarkable future for regenerative medicine utilizing fully ethical approaches." [Wesley J. Smith, 12 October] http://is.gd/4f6tf
  • There has been an increase in the number of women undergoing IVF. Figures released by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) show an almost six percent increase for 2007. [NetDoctor, 30 September] http://is.gd/3ZQN6 IVF involves the abuse and killing of embryonic children.
  • There were 182 recorded mistakes and near-misses in IVF centres, according to Britain's embryology regulator. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has issued a report detailing the incidents. The report covers incidents such as fertilisation of the wrong egg, the implantation of the wrong embryo or a patient's death. [Telegraph, 2 October] http://is.gd/3Y0az
  • Hundreds of Polish medics have called upon Polish parliamentarians to reject the legalisation of IVF and urged them to back ethical alternatives. In an open letter to a major newspaper, the professionals wrote that "artificial fertilization entails risk of embryo death" and "violates the dignity of men, women and children". They also said that NaProTechnology is more effective than IVF. [LifeSiteNews.com, 29 September] http://is.gd/3Ojct

Population
  • The head of the United Nations' food agency has said that population control is not necessary to combat food shortages. Dr. Jacques Diouf told a synod of African bishops meeting in Rome this week that "On the earth, there is a sufficient number of financial means, effective technologies, natural and human resources to eliminate hunger in the world once and for all." [LifeSiteNews.com, 13 October] http://is.gd/4iNCv Dr Diouf's position is in marked contrast to the calls for population control frequently made elsewhere in the UN system.
  • A lawyer who assisted a jailed activist against China's one-child policy was denied the Nobel Peace Prize given instead to Barack Obama, the pro-abortion American president. Hu Jia was the attorney for Chen Guangcheng, who was jailed for his exposure of the Chinese Communist regime's policy of forced abortions. [LifeNews.com, 9 October] http://is.gd/4gPcR Mr Obama has released hundreds of millions of dollars of US federal funding for pro-abortion and population control groups complicit in China's one-child policy.
  • Ireland has highest birth rate in the European Union, according to the latest figures. The birth rate increased by 9% in 2007. [RTE, 9 October] http://is.gd/46eDH Abortion is banned in Ireland.

Sexual health; teenage pregnancies
  • Sex education for children as young as four has started in Glasgow, Scotland. The youngest children will start by learning about body parts. [BBC, 7 October] http://is.gd/44hku The start of the scheme follows the announcement by the Scottish government that every secondary school in Scotland will have its own sex clinic [Catholic News Agency, 7 October] http://is.gd/42arF] Supporters of such schemes claim it will reduce pregnancies among teenagers, whilst opponents claim that the evidence proves the opposite.
  • Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, has announced that pregnant 16 and 17-year-olds will no longer receive council flats and will be housed in dedicated hostels instead. Speaking at the Labour party's annual conference, Mr Brown referred to the problem of "children having children" and said: "It cannot be right for a girl of 16 to get pregnant, be given the keys to a council flat and be left on her own." [Daily Mail, 30 September] http://is.gd/3Oe17 Mr Brown also announced changes to government childcare. [Daily Mail, 30 September] http://is.gd/3OH3H SPUC is greatly worried that government-appointed social workers will be assigned to oversee the pregnant teenagers, considering the government's ardent promotion of abortion.

Euthanasia and assisted suicide; disability
  • A nurse who gave suicide advice online has loses his professional licence. William Melchert-Dinkel, a male nurse from Minnesota, America, used pseudonyms in online suicide chat-rooms to pose as an expert on suicide techniques. Two participants in the chat-rooms committed suicide. [Wesley J. Smith, 15 October] http://is.gd/4m25x
  • An appointee to President Obama's administration has argued for the removal without consent of organs from dead or incurable patients. Cass Sunstein, a legal scholar appointed to a regulatory position, in a 1998 book defended the idea that "the state owns the rights to body parts of people who are dead or in certain hopeless conditions, and it can remove their organs without asking anyone's permission." Professor Sunstein has also argued that the government has a duty to fund abortions in certain cases. [World Net Daily, 12 October] http://is.gd/4kXTW
  • A man who was wrongly diagnosed with cancer has been starved and dehydrated on the Liverpool Care Pathway. Jack Jones, 76, had pneumonia and died after two weeks following denial of food and fluids. [Daily Mail, 13 October] http://is.gd/4gQzt SPUC has warned that the Pathway may result in euthanasia.
  • A daughter has saved her mother from death on the Liverpool Care Pathway and under the Mental Capacity Act. Hazel Fenton, 80, had been admitted to hospital with pneumonia and was denied food and fluids. Christine Ball, her daughter, said she had to fight hospital staff for weeks until her mother was given sustenance. Miss Ball said that the policy in force "really is a subterfuge for legalised euthanasia of the elderly on the NHS." [Telegraph, 11 October] http://is.gd/4f1Mx
  • The British government has reportedly shelved plans for a system of presumed consent for organ donation. Andy Burnham the health secretary, said the move was in response to a significant increase in the number of organ donations. [Mirror, 8 October] http://is.gd/46eTx Pro-life organisations fear that patients may be in danger of euthanasia under such so-called opt-out schemes.
  • A disabled geologist has been arrested on suspicion of murder following a failed suicide pact with his wife, who was suffocated. Dr William Stanton, 79, of Somerset, England, is terminally-ill with bone cancer. According to their children, Dr Stanton and his wife Angela, 74, decided to kill themselves because of Dr Stanton's illness. [Telegraph, 7 October] http://is.gd/42ac5 Sources also indicate that Dr Stanton is an advocate of radical population control [Amazon]
  • The family of a woman who committed suicide are planning to sue the hospital which allowed her to die. Kerrie Wooltorton, 26, swallowed anti-freeze and presented a suicide note asking doctors not to save her life. The doctors followed her request, claiming that her wishes were legally binding. [Telegraph, 2 October] http://is.gd/3RIED

General and miscellaneous
  • The United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council has passed a resolution promoting traditional values. The resolution, proposed by the Russian Federation, calls for a better understanding of the role of traditional values in underpinning international human rights norms. Although the resolution does not define traditional values, the resolution's passing by a UN body is a rare departure from the anti-life and anti-family agenda frequently present in UN human rights discussions. [John Smeaton, 7 October] http://is.gd/44kM1

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


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