News, weekly summary, 9 to 15 September 2009

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Abortion
  • Pro-lifers have held a vigil for Jim Pouillon, a 63-year-old pro-life activist who was shot dead in Michigan, America. Mr Pouillon had been shot whilst carrying a pro-life sign in front of a school in the town of Owosso. A man has been arrested by police on suspicion of murder and reportedly told prosecutors that Mr Pouillon's pro-life activity was the motive behind the murder. Mr Pouillon had received numerous threats, including death threats, in the past. [LifeSiteNews.com, 14 September] http://is.gd/3ipNR
  • A consultation on proposals to allow abortion agencies to advertise on TV has drawn massive public opposition to the proposals. The Broadcasting Committee of Advertising Practice (BCAP) will not be able to complete the consultation process until the first quarter of next year due to the unprecedented number of submissions, numbering 4,000, many of which expressed opposition to abortion. [Guardian, 8 September] http://is.gd/31I6m Paul Tully, SPUC general secretary, commented: "We are pleased to note that the BCAP is carefully scrutinising the submissions. We hope that this huge expression of public concern will make the BCAP realise the depth of public feeling on the issue. We are very, very grateful to all those who have expressed reservations about the proposals. We must ensure that the government too notes the depth of public concern on this matter, and SPUC groups around the country are currently promoting a national petition directed to the prime minister to ensure that our concerns are heard by politicians too."

Population
  • A report commissioned by a population control group claims that contraception is the cheapest means of addressing man-made global warming. The report, commissioned by the Optimum Population Trust from the London School of Economics (LSE), claims that contraception is almost five times cheaper than conventional so-called green technologies. The group is calling for birth control to be included in funding for climate change. [Telegraph, 9 September] http://is.gd/38PdZ
  • The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) has called for US$23 billion in contributions, claiming that women are dying because of a lack of funding for so-called sexual and reproductive health, a euphemism for abortion. The agency, which promotes abortion, contraception and sterilisation, made the call at a meeting of anti-life organisations in Berlin, Germany. [AFP via Google, 2 September] http://is.gd/2ZhWv John Smeaton, SPUC director, commented: "If UNFPA was truly interested in saving women's lives, it would campaign against abortion. It is no coincidence that Ireland, the country which has the world's best maternal mortality rate, also forbids abortion." Anthony Ozimic of SPUC commented: "Whatever the evidence regarding man-made global warming, the right to life and the right to found a family are fundamental, universal human rights enshrined in legally-binding international conventions. Will the members of the Optimum Population Trust please tell us which of their children should not have been born in order to save the earth?"

Euthanasia and assisted suicide; disability
  • A national audit of 4,000 patients put on the Liverpool Care Pathway last year has found that more than a quarter of families are not told when life support is withdrawn from terminally-ill loved ones. The audit was conducted by researchers from the Royal College of Physicians and the Marie Curie Palliative Care Institute in Liverpool. Under the Pathway, doctors can withdraw food and fluids from terminally-ill patients and sedate them continuously until death. Peter Millard, emeritus professor of geriatrics at the University of London, said: 'The risk as this is rolled out across the country is that elderly people with chronic conditions like Parkinson's or respiratory disorders may be dismissed as dying when they could still live for some time ... Only when death is unavoidable should you start withdrawing treatment. [Daily Mail, 15 September] http://is.gd/3ipR3
  • A mother whose prematurely-born boy died after being denied treatment has condemned guidelines given to doctors. Jayden, the son of Sarah Capewell of Great Yarmouth, England, was denied treatment because he was born earlier than 22 weeks, the cut-off point for treatment under the guidelines. Miss Capewell claimed that doctors told her that Jayden "hasn't got a human right, he is a foetus". [Telegraph, 5 September] http://is.gd/2ZdID

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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