Pro-Life Times: January 2002

'Shocking' new cloning law

Pro-life group exposes government

by Anthony Ozimic

The Pro-Life Alliance, a pro-life political party, has exposed the government's support for human cloning. Ignoring intense criticism from both pro-cloning and anti-cloning MPs, the government has rushed through emergency legislation which effectively fails to rule out cloning for childbirth, the declared purpose of the bill.

The government's action followed its High Court defeat last November by the Pro-Life Alliance. Mr Justice Crane found that all human cloning was unregulated in the United Kingdom, in spite of ministers' assurances to the contrary.

Spokesman for the Pro-Life Alliance, Bruno Quintavalle said, "This new legislation is shocking. The way it was rushed through Parliament in two days shows complete contempt for democracy. It is inadequate and incompetent."

In effect, the government's cloning law means that a cloned human being can be created in the laboratory using the 'Dolly the sheep' cloning technique. Such a cloned embryo may not be placed in the womb of a woman in the UK but there is nothing to stop exporting the embryo for transfer to the woman's womb overseas.

The new law does not ban placing cloned human embryos in animal wombs or artificial wombs. Moreover, permission of the person from whom the DNA is taken and used for cloning is not required. A person's twin could be generated without their knowledge or consent since a person's DNA can be obtained from blood or mouth scrapings.

In the House of Commons, pro-cloning government MP Lynne Jones expressed her concern at the way in which the legislation was pushed through: "I am surprised to find myself in support of the comments made in a letter from the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children which wrote to all members [MPs]. Part of the letter states: 'There is no imminent threat of cloned embryos being created nor of resultant cloned babies being born'. Surely the society is right."

Winning the fight for life

Former super middleweight boxing champ Michael Watson recently celebrated his love of life - 10 years after a blow in the ring which nearly cost him his life.

The fighter was in a coma and had serious brain damage. He is still paralysed down his left side, but despite his disabilities he enjoys the life he so very nearly lost. With the support of his family and friends, and strengthened by his Christian faith, he has shown that it is sometimes possible to recover even from devastating injuries.

Alison Davis, National Coordinator of the SPUC Handicap Division, has spina bifida and uses a wheelchair. She said, "Michael Watson's recovery shows people in coma are not 'virtually dead', and just like anyone else, they deserve the best possible treatment. However, some people with serious brain injuries are killed by withdrawing food and fluids. Supporters of euthanasia hope that this crude way of killing will lead to pressure for legalising medical killing of disabled people by lethal injection. Life is precious and should be nurtured regardless of the person's abilities."

Comment

Colin Hart has been director of the Christian Institute since 1990. Prior to this he was a teacher in a comprehensive school. The Institute campaigns on marriage and the family, drugs, religious liberties and education. In January 2001 the Institute campaigned against the morning-after pill going on sale and being made available in schools.

Everyone has an inner sense of right and wrong. Depending on what we do, our conscience can accuse or defend us. This is what the Apostle Paul said in Romans ch.2 v.15. Paul also makes clear in Romans 1 that our conscience can become dulled or hardened when we persistently do what we know to be wrong. Abortion has been legal for many years now but, despite all the propaganda, even the secular researchers, like those from British Social Attitudes, find that a substantial percentage of the public oppose abortion. I find this amazing encouragement.

In his commentary on Romans, John Stott states, "Thus conscience is our ally. In all evangelism I find it is a constant encouragement to say to myself that the other person's conscience is on my side."

I believe that the other person's conscience is our ally when Christians seek to argue that abortion is wrong.

If it sometimes seems as though no one is listening, then remember everyone has a conscience. The very fact of arguing the pro-life cause can be used by God to sharpen people's conscience and so influence public opinion.

Heavenly Father, help us to be salt and light in the world. We thank you for the freedom we have to proclaim the Gospel and to speak out for what is right. May those who have a guilty conscience know Christ's forgiveness and healing. May you grant us opportunities to speak to people's consciences so that minds may be changed and people may see how wrong abortion is in your sight. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Catholic press defies A.S.A. to uphold sanctity of life

by Paul Burnell

The Catholic press in Great Britain has taken a forthright stand in support of The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) in its dispute with the Advertising Standards Authority. SPUC is refusing to withdraw its description of the morning after pill as an "abortion inducing" drug.

The advertising watchdog wanted this to be qualified as an "opinion", and demanded that SPUC should not state it as a fact. SPUC points to medical and scientific evidence which shows that the drug can cause the death of an embryo in the first week of life, between conception and implantation.

John Smeaton, SPUC's National Director said, "We are tremendously grateful to the Catholic press for standing with us against the bullying tactics of the ASA. The editors have put principle first and defended human life from conception, despite the possible threat legal action against their papers."

All the national Catholic papers which carried the disputed advert have supported SPUC in defying the ASA, except the Tablet.

A member of the human family

by John Smeaton, National Director, SPUC

The right to life of the early human embryo is not a matter of religious belief, nor something labelled 'Catholics only'.

The question of who has human rights can be answered by people of all faiths and none. The answer can be discovered by the power of reason, in the light of science, and through the application of basic principles of international law.

Embryological textbooks overwhelmingly agree that human life starts at fertilisation. Recent experiments show that when the first cell division takes place, the two-cell embryo begins to specialise, with each of the cells committed to different developmental pathways. The embryo is not simply a cluster of cells as some claim.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world is the 'recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family'. The embryo formed at fertilisation is clearly a member of the human family whose fundamental human rights should be protected by law.

Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights says, 'Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.' It is reasonable to take "everyone" as meaning each member of the human family, including the unborn. Of course, there is no agreement in society about what constitutes personhood. This is why Article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights says, 'Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law.' In other words, no-one is entitled to destroy another human being simply because he or she has decided that a particular human being is not a person.

According to international agreements, then, biological identity as a member of the human species is sufficient reason for that individual to be treated as a person. This is why SPUC objects to the use of morning-after pills which are intrinsically abortifacient. Such pills can prevent implantation so that embryonic human beings are expelled from their mothers' wombs.

Pro-lifers must not be afraid to defend the sanctity of human life from fertilisation and to oppose all abortion-inducing methods of birth control. Human reason, scientific research and international law are on our side.

New study blames abortion for breast cancer increase

by Paul Tully

A new study suggests that the increase in breast cancer cases over the 1990s has been due to three decades of liberal abortion, not to better screening programmes and diagnosis. It estimates that by the end of 2001 at least 22,000 women in England and Wales could have developed breast cancer as a result of legal abortions. Scottish women will fare slightly better, due to the lower abortion rate in Scotland.

Professor Jack Scarisbrick of LIFE, which commissioned the study, argues that abortions should now be curtailed as the law requires doctors to assess the medical risks. "Can any doctor now sign an abortion consent form saying that continuing the pregnancy is a greater risk to the woman's health than an abortion?" Professor Scarisbrick asked. The study's author, Patrick Carroll, predicts that cases of breast cancer are going to escalate in a horrifying way in coming years. The long 'lead in' time between abortion and subsequent cancer means that future cases can be firmly predicted because of high abortion rates in the past. Breast cancer recently overtook lung cancer as the most common form of the disease in Britain.

Like previous academic work on the abortion - breast cancer (ABC) link, the study is sure to attract criticism from abortion advocates, but, as Carroll points out, attempts to debunk the ABC link have relied on inadequate data or failure to look at the long time-scale of the link.

Copies of the study are available from the author at 35 Canonbury Road, London N1 2DG. Tel: 020 7354 5667 @ £16.50.

News In Brief

BIRMINGHAM - NHS Exposed, an internet site by doctors and patients which exposes NHS malpractice and campaigns for human rights in the NHS, has had its e-mail accounts withdrawn without notice by British Telecom Internet.

Its e-mails were impounded and no reason was cited except "unpopular activity" in this latest attempt to silence an organisation which exposes involuntary euthanasia amongst other human rights abuses, and has suffered censorship from many ISPs (Internet Service Provider) over the last year.(Lumen)

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican has accused the United Nations High Commission for Refugees of promoting abortion.

In a communiqué it has sent to all national Catholic bishops' conferences, the Vatican has outlined its concern over UN field manuals on reproductive health for refugees, first published in collaboration with the pro-abortion World Health Organisation and the UN Population Fund. (EWTN News and LifeSite)

LONDON - Britain's overseas aid minister Clare Short has misplaced her trust in the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), pro-life MP Edward Leigh told a Commons committee considering international development legislation.

The Conservative MP said that evidence of "barbaric" coercive population control in China contradicted Ms Short's assertions that UNFPA left couples to make their own decisions about their families. (Hansard)

LONDON - Involuntary euthanasia is commonplace in the NHS, the head of the Voluntary Euthanasia Society has claimed in a BBC radio programme which also carried allegations from relatives that their loved ones had been victims of medical killing.

Anti-euthanasia nurse Teresa Lynch said "The VES campaign is designed to make medical killing easier."

The tragic toll of lost lives

Since the abortion act came into effect on 27 April 1968, more than five and a half million nameless and defenceless unborn children have been killed under its terms in England, Wales and Scotland. The highest number ever recorded in England and Wales was in 1998, when there were 187,402 unborn victims. With fluctuations, the number of abortions has continued to rise over three decades.

Total numbers of abortions

The number of unborn children killed under the terms of the 1967 abortion act in England and Wales was the third highest ever in 2000 (the latest date for which figures are available). Official government figures released by the office for national statistics indicated that there were 185,375 abortions performed in 2000, up by 1.2% from 1999. This total corresponded to a rate of 16.94 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 - 0.9% higher than in 1999. The figures do not take into account the countless unborn children killed by morning-after pills or IUDs or those killed in destructive experimentation or discarded in the course of in vitro fertilisation.

Abortion and the morning-after pill

Prescriptions for the PC4 morning-after pill (so-called emergency contraception) increased five-fold during the 1990s, but the official registered abortion rate still rose. Since 1998,courses dispensed of the morning-after pill have increased to almost one million a year, whereas the abortion rate has not declined.

Marriage and abortion

In 2000, 3,748 abortions were performed on residents of England and Wales under 16, the legal age of consent. Women between the ages of 20 and 24 were the most likely to have an abortion. 71% of resident women who had abortions in 2000 said they were single, while only 18% said they were married.

The most dangerous places to be conceived

In these countries over half of babies conceived are killed by abortion Belarus, Bulgaria, Cuba, Estonia, Latvia, Romania, Russia, Ukraine

Abortion is one of the most commonly performed gynaecological procedures in the UK. About a fifth of all known pregnancies end in an induced abortion. The pie charts above show the percentage of live births to abortions in four different countries.

Abortion on demand

Despite the assurances of the promoters of the Abortion Act that it would remain a procedure of last resort in exceptional circumstances, 92% of all abortions on residents of England and Wales in 2000 were carried out on the ground that continuation of the pregnancy would injure the woman's physical or mental health - the ground under which abortion on demand is usually carried out. In Scotland the percentage of abortions performed on this basis was even higher - 96.9%. In reality, this criterion has been interpreted so liberally that it encompasses broad social factors, hence allowing abortion on demand.

Abortion for disability

Among residents of England and Wales in 2000, 1,833 abortions were performed on the grounds that the unborn child would be "seriously handicapped". In all, 126 abortions were performed in England and Wales beyond 24 weeks' gestation, 121 of which were on the ground of foetal handicap.

Poland - the safest place for unborn babies

Poland stands out as a remarkable example and source of hope for the future. In 1988, there were over 100,000 abortions in Poland. However, after the fall of communism and before any change in the legal situation, the number of abortions began to decline markedly so that by 1992, the year before new anti-abortion laws, there were only 11,640 abortions. When the restrictive abortion law was abolished for one year in 1997, the climate had changed to such an extent that only 3,047 women obtained abortions even though the procedure was available virtually on demand. In 2000, there were only 138 legal abortions performed in Poland. There has been no increase in maternal deaths or still births - and no evidence of backstreet abortion.

From the desk of Joanna Bogle

A timely warning

American lawyer, Wesley Smith, addressed a packed meeting in the House of Commons last November, with a warning about the dangers of legalising euthanasia. He showed how, since "assisted suicide" had become legal in the state of Oregon, teenage suicides had risen. The connection being: if killing is seen as the answer to a problem, then why not kill yourself when life seems difficult, as it so often does for adolescents. The meeting was organised by ALERT, which campaigns against euthanasia.

Cornish initiative

The continued rise in out-of-wedlock teenage pregnancies, the failure of current sex education schemes based on giving teenagers contraceptives and the need for a fresh approach are all the themes of a new initiative in Cornwall. The Cornwall Community Standards Association has been lobbying at County Hall in Truro against the county's doomed-to-failure "Teenage Pregnancy Strategy", which foists on Cornish youth the same failed policies which have been tried elsewhere. Now the Association has launched its own scheme advocating a message about responsibility under the theme "Love says wait". More information from 01208 831204.

Remembering the babies

Another idea from Cornwall - this time a moving and beautiful idea: the St Paul's, Tintagel, Miscarriage and Loss Memorial Book. Anyone who has lost a baby through miscarriage or stillbirth can have the child listed in the book and know that he or she will be remembered in special prayer. The book is open for everyone - no matter where you live, your baby's name can be inscribed. You can contact the organisers at miscarriage@rosenthalenglish.worldonline.co.uk, or write to Miriam and Myke Rosenthal-English, 14 the Sifings, Pengelly, Delabole, Cornwall.

Pro-life tribute to Mary Whitehouse

In the first week of December last year I attended Mary Whitehouse's funeral. I worked with her over the years and am glad and proud to have known her. She was a tireless campaigner for better standards in the media. She was also, from the start, opposed to abortion. In her autobiography she told a personal story connected with this: "Since we hoped to have a sizeable family we were delighted when we knew we could expect twins... But this was the beginning of a sad and difficult time for us. I spent many of the following months in bed, and we were warned that the babies were likely to be very delicate. As my health deteriorated the doctor suggested a medical abortion, but I wouldn't consider it. Though my babies did not live, I've never regretted the decision we made - they remain part of our family and I am grateful for what they gave me in courage and maturity."

One-child policy- China's shame

by Anthony Ozimic

British MPs demand enquiry

MPs are demanding an enquiry into British funding of China's horrific one-child policy. Opposition international development spokesman Caroline Spelman MP, an evangelical Christian, has called for a committee to examine the way in which British taxpayers' money is going to a United Nations backed programme of forced abortions and coercive sterilisation in China. At the same time the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children has backed an amendment to the International Development Bill calling for a ban on all government funding for coercive population programmes.

Millions of pounds of British taxpayers' money is given every year to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), as well as to the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), the world's largest abortion promoter.

An investigation by the US-based Population Research Institute (PRI) found that the UNFPA, "...contrary to its own statements, is participating in the management and support of a programme of forced abortion and forced sterilisation in China." SPUC invited PRI president Steve Mosher to address a parliamentary briefing last November. Mr Mosher told MPs that his organisation had interviewed women and officials in those Chinese counties where UNFPA is active.

Pro-life MP, Edward Leigh, endorsed Mrs Spelman's call for an enquiry and put this question to the House of Commons, "Is the aid given [to UNFPA and IPPF] by the British tax-payer effectively financing activities that are contrary to every notion of human rights and civilised behaviour?"

Irish bishops' advice could undermine human embryo worldwide

The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (UK) has responded with grave disquiet to the decision of the Irish bishops to "welcome and support the new proposal" for amending the Irish constitution on abortion. The proposal includes a radical new definition of abortion which means that the early embryo, prior to implantation in the womb, will not be covered by the proposed amendment.

The National Director of SPUC in the UK, John Smeaton, said, "The action of the bishops in supporting the wording of this referendum is deplorable. They are giving credence to a proposal that suggests that early abortion can be discounted. The suggested amendment has other serious faults permitting intentional killing of the unborn.

"Although it can be argued that this does not in itself weaken the protection of the unborn in the constitution, it is clear to any common sense observer that this is the wider aim of the proposal.

"This is not purely an Irish domestic matter. As an issue of human rights, abortion always transcends national boundaries, but in this case the international community has a very specific and serious cause for concern, and we alerted the bishops to this. The wording of the amendment is designed to facilitate the promotion of early abortion by such means as the morning-after pill and the intra-uterine device. Legislators and judges around the world could pick up on the re-definition of abortion in this proposal and use it to undermine the status of the early embryo in other countries.

"We would urge the Irish people to stand by their prophetic commitment to the rights of the unborn child. They have been given bad advice in similar circumstances in the past, and they are being given bad advice now. They should demand a truly pro-life wording for the coming referendum."

In the 1992 referendum on abortion, the Irish bishops advised that people could legitimately vote in favour of allowing advertising and travel arrangements for abortions abroad. These proposals were successful, and appear to have had a damaging impact on the number of Irish women travelling to Britain for abortions.

House of Lords rejects Dianne Pretty case

by Staff reporter

Motor neurone disease sufferer Dianne Pretty has had her case rejected by the House of Lords. She appealed against the High Court ruling that her husband could not help her to commit suicide and avoid prosecution.

Mrs Pretty claimed that denying her the "right to die" is contrary to the Human Rights Act. However, the House of Lords examined all the arguments in detail and concluded that the human rights legislation gave no support to her argument. A coalition of pro-life organisations, funded by SPUC, which intervened at the High Court stage, put forward many of the the arguments that were influential in the Law Lords' judgements.

Dr Tony Cole of the Medical Ethics Alliance said; "The Medical Ethics Alliance, on behalf of most of the medical profession, was very relieved by this conclusion. As recently as last year the British Medical Association arrived at a consensus against assisted suicide. Had Mrs Pretty's application succeeded, not only would assisted suicide have been legalised but most probably euthanasia as well.

"Throughout this case there appears to have been a misunderstanding about the nature of motor neurone disease and what palliative care can do to relieve its symptoms," said Dr Cole.