Friday 31 January 2014

Bishops everywhere should follow the Nigerian bishops' lead in defence of families

Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama
The Catholic bishops of Nigeria have thanked Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's president, for signing into law the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill, 2011, which prohibits same-sex marriages, civil partnerships, and the promotion of homosexuality. The media statement from the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria describes the new law as:
"as a right step in the right direction for the protection of the dignity of the human person".
Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama, president of the bishops' conference, commended President Jonathan for his:
"decision...not to bow to international pressure in the promotion of unethical and immoral practices of same sex union and other related vices"
and spoke of:
"the conspiracy of the developed world to make our country and continent, the dumping ground for the promotion of all immoral practices, that have continued to debase the purpose of God for man in the area of creation and morality, in their own countries."
As a pro-life leader, as a parent and as a Catholic, I am very grateful for the Nigerian Catholic bishops' defence of families. Standing up against the worldwide homosexual agenda is crucial for the protection of children. SPUC has produced a paper about the impact that same-sex marriage will have on schools. Sadly many Catholic schools are also likely to be open to the homosexual agenda. Bishops around the world should follow the Nigerian bishops' lead and speak out for strong policies against the subversion of the truth and meaning of human sexuality.

May I urge readers to email Nigeria's Catholic bishops to thank them for their witness? Please email His Grace Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama, President, Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria, via the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria csnabuja@cbcn.org

Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk Sign up for alerts to new blog-posts and/or for SPUC's other email services
Follow SPUC on Twitter
Like SPUC's Facebook Page
Please support SPUC. Please donate, join, and/or leave a legacy

Russian health ministry plans to set up pregnancy centres to lower abortion rate

Elena Baibarina
Top story:

Russian health ministry plans to set up pregnancy centres to lower abortion rate
Russia's health ministry is planning to set crisis pregnancy centres to help lower the country's high abortion rate. Elena Baibarina, the head of the Health Ministry's Department for Health Care for Children and Obstetric Aid, said: "We think that this is the most promising and humane way of reducing the number of abortions." The Russian government has also put forth a number of other proposals to reverse the legacy of Russia's Communist-era abortion culture. [LifeSiteNews.com, 29 January]

Other stories:

Abortion
Embryology and stem cell research
Euthanasia
Population
Sexual ethics
General
  • 14 babies die on NHS maternity wards every day: Women are failed over care, say MPs [Mail, 30 January]
  • Middle class mothers deserting workplace to care for children, Government study shows [Telegraph, 30 January]
Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk
Sign up for alerts to new blog-posts and/or for SPUC's other email services
Follow SPUC on Twitter
Like SPUC's Facebook Page
Please support SPUC. Please donate, join, and/or leave a legacy

Monday 27 January 2014

Lunacek report alert now in several languages

SPUC's alert to lobby MEPs about the dangerous Lunacek report is now available in French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese and Spanish. Please send these translations to friends, family and colleagues in Europe, asking them to lobby their MEPs to stop the Lunacek report. The European Parliament is due to vote on the report next week. See our alert (in English) of 6 January for more information.

Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk
Sign up for alerts to new blog-posts and/or for SPUC's other email services
Follow SPUC on Twitter
Like SPUC's Facebook Page
Please support SPUC. Please donate, join, and/or leave a legacy

Amnesty International considers supporting decriminalising prostitution

Top story:

Amnesty International considers supporting decriminalising prostitution
Amnesty International, the human rights organisation, is considering supporting the decriminalisation of prostitution. The proposal is to be put before Amnesty members and voted on at its annual general meeting in April. [Mail, 24 January]  In recent years, Amnesty has moved to campaigning for legal abortion and for homosexual rights.

Other stories:

Abortion
Euthanasia
Embryology
Population
Sexual ethics
  • Number of married couples with children in UK reaches record low, suggests official figures [Mail, 23 January]
  • Urge that Fr Timothy Radcliffe is cancelled by Dublin's Divine Mercy Conference [John Smeaton, 23 January]
General
Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk
Sign up for alerts to new blog-posts and/or for SPUC's other email services
Follow SPUC on Twitter
Like SPUC's Facebook Page
Please support SPUC. Please donate, join, and/or leave a legacy

Thursday 23 January 2014

WaterAid's position on population growth

Top story:

WaterAid's position on population growth
WaterAid UK was founded in 1981 in response to the United Nations Decade of Drinking Water and Sanitation. WaterAid says that it "deal[s] solely with water, sanitation and hygiene issues." In July 2012 WaterAid issued a statement congratulating the UK government for organising an London Summit on Family Planning, co-organised by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The summit aimed to promote the provision of contraceptives, including hormonal contraceptives that can act abortifaciently. This summit was strongly supported by international pro-abortion organisations such as the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), Marie Stopes International (MSI), and Ipas. In its statement, WaterAid stated: “contraception is indeed a critical factor for family planning.” In an email in December to a SPUC supporter, WaterAid supported the alleged need for a reduction in population growth in the developing world. [SPUC, 22 January]

Other stories:

Abortion
Euthanasia
  • I feel right to die pressure, says motor neurone disease sufferer [BBC, 21 January]
  • Suicide girl Emma Crossman 'copied Coronation Street Hayley Cropper storyline' [Mirror, 18 January]
Sexual ethics
  • Irish Government: Gay couples to get parental rights ‘regardless of equal marriage referendum’ [Pink News, 22 January]
Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk
Sign up for alerts to new blog-posts and/or for SPUC's other email services
Follow SPUC on Twitter
Like SPUC's Facebook Page
Please support SPUC. Please donate, join, and/or leave a legacy

Urge that Fr Timothy Radcliffe is cancelled by Dublin's Divine Mercy Conference

I have received the disturbing news that Fr Timothy Radcliffe O.P. is to be one of the guest speakers at this year's Divine Mercy Conference in Dublin on 22/23 February. Fr Radcliffe is well-known as a veteran dissenter from Catholic teaching on sexuality. Deacon Nick Donnelly of the excellent "Protect the Pope" blog has detailed Fr Radcliffe's dissent. In May 2011, LifeSiteNews.com reported that Fr Radcliffe's scheduled keynote speaking engagement at the general assembly of Caritas Internationalis had been cancelled by the Vatican.

Please urge - for the sake of the Gospel of Life, the truth & meaning of human sexuality and our children - that the Divine Mercy Conference withdraws its invitation to Fr Radcliffe. Please email:
Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk
Sign up for alerts to new blog-posts and/or for SPUC's other email services
Follow SPUC on Twitter
Like SPUC's Facebook Page
Please support SPUC. Please donate, join, and/or leave a legacy

Monday 20 January 2014

Sex-selective abortion is legacy of abortion on demand, argues conservative columnist

Top story:

Sex-selective abortion is legacy of abortion on demand, argues conservative columnist
A conservative columnist has argued that sex-selective abortion is a legacy of abortion on demand. Dominic Lawson, writing for the Mail newspaper, said: "If [an unborn child] has no moral status during the temporary period of total dependency on the mother, why should one reason for termination be any more legal or illegal  than another? ... That’s what pro-choice means, however much those who framed the law might seek to distance themselves from the consequences." [Mail, 20 January]

Other stories:

Abortion
Euthanasia
  • If we don’t care, we will legalise euthanasia, argues conservative columnist [Times, 20 January]
  • Suicide story in soap-opera will make ill feel they are better off dead, says disabled parliamentarian [Mirror, 19 January]
  • Son was put on Liverpool Care Pathway without mother's consent [Luton Today, 19 January]
Population
  • Chinese court jails suspected members of gang accused of illegal sex-selection tests [Guardian, 19 January]
Sexual ethics
General
  • 3D printing firm offers lifesize figurine of baby from ultrasound scans [Mail, 20 January]
Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk
Sign up for alerts to new blog-posts and/or for SPUC's other email services
Follow SPUC on Twitter
Like SPUC's Facebook Page
Please support SPUC. Please donate, join, and/or leave a legacy

Friday 17 January 2014

All 'emergency contraception' can cause abortion, suggests study

Top stories:

All 'emergency contraception' can cause abortion, suggests study [LifeSiteNews.com, 16 January]

MP supports family groups in opposing pornography in schools

David Amess, a leading pro-life MP, has backed a petition calling on Michael Gove, the education secretary, to resist calls for pornography to be presented in the classroom as part of sex education lessons. The petition was organised by SPUC's Safe at School campaign, a parent advocacy group. David Amess joined Safe at School supporters (pictured) in presenting a petition of over 22,000 signatures to the Department for Education yesterday evening. [SPUC, 17 January]

Urgent: abortion clinic licencing consultation
A consultation is being conducted (closing date/time: Monday 3 February at noon) by the Department of Health into the Operating Procedures for licenced abortion clinics. You can contribute online. Read the full alert - SPUC, 16 January

Safe at School seriously concerned by 'expert' group writing porn guidelines for schools
SPUC's Safe at School campaign has expressed serious concern about the so-called 'expert' group which the Department for Education has convened to write guidelines for schools on how to teach pupils about pornography. Antonia Tully, national co-ordinator of Safe at School, told the media today: "We are very concerned about the organisations in this 'expert' group. The SEF has already produced suggestions and lesson ideas for teachers on how to teach children about pornography. These lessons are not about warning children and teenagers about the dangers of pornography. The SEF lessons are promoting pornography; encouraging children and teenagers to explore and embrace it." [SPUC, 16 January]

Sex-selective abortion stats mean government policy must change, says SPUC
In the light of the latest evidence about sex-selection abortion, SPUC has called for immediate reform of the Department of Health's abortion policy which promotes abortion for any reason. Commenting on the investigation by The Independent newspaper into sex-selection abortions, Paul Tully, SPUC's general secretary, said: "Discrimination against women is being perpetuated by abortion. The pro-life movement condemns abortion as an anti-woman policy as well anti-child. However it is important to recognise that most baby girls (and boys) who are aborted are killed by doctors who pretend that the mother's mental health is at risk – and sign forms saying so. The Department of Health funds and defends these abortions, encouraging abuse of the law." [SPUC, 15 January]

Coronation St assisted suicide episode risks misleading public
A forthcoming episode of a popular British soap-opera risks misleading the public on the issue of assisted suicide. Anthony Ozimic, SPUC Pro-Life's communications manager, commented: "Soap operas are successful vehicles for creating emotion, fear and loyalty among the viewing public, but very poor vehicles for fostering the rational, ethics-based and evidence-rich debate needed on assisted suicide." [SPUC, 14 January]

Other stories:

Abortion
Euthanasia
Sexual ethics
General
Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk
Sign up for alerts to new blog-posts and/or for SPUC's other email services
Follow SPUC on Twitter
Like SPUC's Facebook Page
Please support SPUC. Please donate, join, and/or leave a legacy

MP supports family groups in opposing pornography in schools

David Amess, a leading pro-life MP, has backed a petition calling on Michael Gove, the education secretary, to resist calls for pornography to be presented in the classroom as part of sex education lessons.

The petition was organised by SPUC's Safe at School campaign, a parent advocacy group. It came in opposition to calls by Sex Education Forum, an influential lobby group, which represents many anti-family and anti-life groups. The Department for Education has invited the Sex Education Forum (SEF) to help write guidelines for schools on how to teach pupils about pornography.

David Amess joined Safe at School supporters in presenting a petition of over 22,000 signatures to the Department for Education yesterday evening:
Pictured left to right: Antonia Tully (Safe at School); Dr Lisa Nolland (Lords and Commons Family and Child Protection Group); David Amess MP; Yusuf Patel (SREIslamic); Edmund Adamus (Director for Marriage & Family Life, Catholic Archdiocese of Westminster)

Mr Amess said:
"The  petition calls for children to be protected from pornography - not exposed to it in the classroom, as the Sex Education Forum has suggested. Children don't need to see pornography in the classroom to realise that there is something wrong about indecent images. Young people have an innate sense of modesty about their bodies which, unless it is eroded by adults, provides a natural protection against corruption. The sexualisation of young people whether for commercial reasons or ideological ones is something that our educational institutions should strongly resist."
Antonia Tully, national co-ordinator of Safe at School, said:
"The Sex Education Forum has already produced suggestions and lesson ideas for teachers on how to teach children about pornography. These lessons are not about warning children and teenagers about the dangers of pornography. The SEF lessons are promoting pornography; encouraging children and teenagers to explore and embrace it."

The Department for Education has not announced any change in the statutory guidelines for teaching sex education, which schools are obliged to follow. The expert group is only writing advice for schools. There is a danger that schools will be confused and think that they have to follow this advice."
Safe at School, along with 20 pro-family groups and individuals, including David Amess and eight other MPs, sent Michael Gove an open letter calling on him to recognise that parents are the primary educators of their children on sexual matters - see https://www.spuc.org.uk/news/releases/2014/january08 The letter stated any group writing sex education guidelines for schools must include organisations which recognise the primacy of parents.

Antonia said:
"Most parents would be horrified to see the approach that the SEF is taking. The SEF message is: 'As long as you can tell the difference between reality and pornography, there's no problem'. Rather, parents are the right people to teach their own children about sexual matters."
Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk
Sign up for alerts to new blog-posts and/or for SPUC's other email services
Follow SPUC on Twitter
Like SPUC's Facebook Page
Please support SPUC. Please donate, join, and/or leave a legacy

Thursday 16 January 2014

Urgent: abortion clinic licensing consultation

A consultation is being conducted (closing date/time: Monday 3 February at noon) by the Department of Health into the Operating Procedures for licensed abortion clinics.

You can contribute online via this link:
http://consultations.dh.gov.uk/abortion-clinics/approval-of-independent-sector-places-for-the-term/consult_view
(click on the words "ONLINE SURVEY").

You can contribute by post, by downloading the document "Consultation Response Form.docx", also from the web-page above.

The consultation documents are also available from links on the same web-page (Note: one of the consultation documents gives the closing date as "17 January" - this has been extended to noon on 3 February.)

We would encourage you to send a copy of your contribution to your MP. You might wish to do this by composing your responses in a letter, and then copying them into the website response form.

The questions:

Consultation question: "Do the updated RSOPs [Required Standard Operating Procedures] include the necessary requirements to ensure women receive a safe, high quality, service from independent sector abortion providers which meets the requirements of the Abortion Act?"
SPUC's advice: Write "no" - or leave blank on the grounds that such "requirements" are not ethically possible. [Note: The online version of the submission only allows a "yes" or "no" answer to this question: on the paper/downloadable version, you can expand your answer. If you are responding online however, you can add further comments in response to the final question.]

SPUC's background information: No abortion providers meet the requirements of the Act stipulating that two doctors must form an opinion in good faith that the abortion is necessary for the health of the pregnant woman or other statutory grounds. Abortion clinics routinely practise abortion on request. The RSOPs require abortion clinic proprietors to undertake to comply with the Abortion Act. None of them complies with the Act, and some of them openly defy the Act. Most abortions are said to be on grounds of the mental health of the woman. Doctors state this, falsely, on abortion notification forms. The willingness of doctors to lie on statutory forms which they sign "in good faith" indicates that they hold the law in contempt and are not fit to practise medicine, and clinics which employ such doctors should not be licensed.

Consultation question: "Are there any other RSOPs or requirements that you think should be included? If so, what are they, and why are they needed?"
SPUC's advice: We would caution against suggesting any so-called 'safeguards' that would implicitly accept the principle of legalised killing of the unborn. You might rather suggest here that groups which try to stop women from accessing pregnancy support organisations which offer alternatives to abortion should not be regarded as fit to run a clinic. Organisations which promote abortion by calling for 'abortion on demand' or by seeking to advertise their services in the mass media are demonstrating a commercial approach which is at odds with Parliament's approach to the abortion law, and should not be granted licences.

Consultation question: "Do you have any other comments you would like to make in relation to this consultation?
SPUC's advice: You may add any comments you wish here.

Please don't forget to send a copy to your MP, and ask him/her to raise these issues with the Minister.

Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk
Sign up for alerts to new blog-posts and/or for SPUC's other email services
Follow SPUC on Twitter
Like SPUC's Facebook Page
Please support SPUC. Please donate, join, and/or leave a legacy

Safe at School seriously concerned by 'expert' group writing porn guidelines for schools

SPUC's Safe at School campaign has expressed serious concern about the so-called 'expert' group which the Department for Education has convened to write guidelines for schools on how to teach pupils about pornography.

Antonia Tully, national co-ordinator of Safe at School told the media today:
"We are very concerned about the organisations in this 'expert' group. The SEF has already produced suggestions and lesson ideas for teachers on how to teach children about pornography. These lessons are not about warning children and teenagers about the dangers of pornography. The SEF lessons are promoting pornography; encouraging children and teenagers to explore and embrace it."
Safe at School is presenting a petition of over 22,000 signatures to the Department for Education calling on the Secretary of State for Education to prohibit all promotion of pornography in schools.

Antonia continued:
"We need to be clear that the Department for Education is not changing the statutory guidelines for teaching sex education, which schools are obliged to follow. The expert group is only writing advice for schools. There is a danger that schools will be confused and think that they have to follow this advice."
Safe at School, along with 20 pro-family groups and individuals, including nine MPs, sent Michael Gove MP an open letter calling on him to recognise that parents are the primary educators of their children on sexual matters. The letter stated any group writing sex education guidelines for schools must include organisations which recognise the primacy of parents.

Antonia concluded:
"Most parents would be horrified to see the approach that the SEF is taking. The SEF message is: 'As long as you can tell the difference between reality and pornography, there's no problem'. Rather, parents are the right people to teach their own children about sexual matters."
Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk
Sign up for alerts to new blog-posts and/or for SPUC's other email services
Follow SPUC on Twitter
Like SPUC's Facebook Page
Please support SPUC. Please donate, join, and/or leave a legacy

Wednesday 15 January 2014

Sex-selective abortion stats mean government policy must change

In the light of the latest evidence about sex-selection abortion, SPUC has called for immediate reform of the Department of Health's abortion policy which promotes abortion for any reason.

Commenting on the investigation by The Independent newspaper into sex-selection abortions, Paul Tully, SPUC's general secretary, told the media today:
"Discrimination against women is being perpetuated by abortion. The pro-life movement condemns abortion as an anti-woman policy as well anti-child. However it is important to recognise that most baby girls (and boys) who are aborted are killed by doctors who pretend that the mother's mental health is at risk – and sign forms saying so. The Department of Health funds and defends these abortions, encouraging abuse of the law.

"The serious cultural prejudice against girls among a small percentage of UK citizens should not be used as a smokescreen for the ongoing slaughter of many hundreds of thousands of babies in the womb. The injustice done to all these babies is the same – death -  whatever the reason.

"It is also notable that legal officials have defended the practice of sex-selection abortion in Britain by arguing that it is only illegal if there is no other 'valid' reason for the abortion. 

"Last year the NHS and NHS Scotland funded the abortion of an estimated 100,000 girl babies in Britain.

"But the controversy highlights other aspects of British abortion policy too.

"The UK Department of Health has no compunction about 'lying with statistics' to defend its pro-abortion policy. For example, the department denies the evidence that there may be a link between abortion and breast cancer. There is no mention of breast cancer on the NHS "Risks of abortion" webpage http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/abortion/Pages/risks.aspx despite decades of evidence. It is therefore no surprise that the Department denied the evidence of sex-selection abortion. Since the Department of Health took over the publication of the abortion statistics from the Office for National Statistics, an independent body, all the abortion figures since then must be treated with caution.

"Whether the abortions are taking place in Britain, Asia or elsewhere, the UK government is promoting and funding them through organisations like Marie Stopes International and the British Pregnancy Advisory Service which provide industrial scale abortion services at home and abroad - and kill a few women in the process. 'Reproductive health' is one of the largest areas of spending for the UK overseas aid budget for health and it funds organisations which provide abortion.

"At home, the Department of Health does nothing to ensure that doctors observe even the lax conditions for approving abortion in the 1967 Act, and the NHS contracts out a huge number of abortions to private clinics which boast that they perform abortion on demand.

"The department is adopting a contradictory position by saying that a doctor who agrees to abort a girl-fetus because her mother doesn't want a daughter is a criminal, when in other cases a doctor who refuses to abort a woman because there are no medical grounds, is regarded by the department as guilty of unprofessional conduct. The Department of Health repeatedly insists that doctors who refuse to arrange an abortion must refer the woman to a colleague who is known to have no objection. This is an immoral and legally unfounded demand."
Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk
Sign up for alerts to new blog-posts and/or for SPUC's other email services
Follow SPUC on Twitter
Like SPUC's Facebook Page
Please support SPUC. Please donate, join, and/or leave a legacy

Tuesday 14 January 2014

Italian MEP challenges "dangerous" World Health Organization sex education guidelines

Just before Christmas, Cristiana Muscardini, an Italian MEP, asked a question for  written answer from the European Commission on a sinister World Health Organization (WHO) publication Standards for Sexuality Education in Europe.

You may wish to write to Ms Muscardini and congratulate her for reminding Europeans of this harmful policy document (first published in 2010). I reproduce below her question in full.
The European regional office of the World Health Organisation recently published a document entitled ‘Standards for Sexuality Education in Europe’ to provide guidelines on how to teach sex education to children aged four and over. The document is unsuitable and dangerous for a number of reasons, first and foremost because it encourages young children to engage in morally and educationally questionable sexual behaviour. For example, it promotes child masturbation, ‘playing doctor’ at the age of four as a way of discovering one’s own body and those of others, and same-sex relations between children under six years of age. What is more, the document is geared entirely to promoting a gender‐based ideology, which is completely unscientific. Ultimately, the document portrays sexual life in a simplistic and materialistic way, which is nonsensical, because it subordinates emotional and relational experience to solely biological and anatomical notions learned during early childhood and overlooks the ethical dimension of not only sexual but all human activities.
1. The Commission is presumably aware of this document. What is its opinion on it?
2. Is it aware that the document is actually the English translation of a German booklet entitled ‘Love, Body and Playing Doctor’, which was withdrawn by the German Ministry for Family Affairs in response to strong and wholly legitimate criticism from German Catholics, but which is now being put forward again under a different title?
3. Does it not agree that initiatives of this kind give people a false idea of European culture, which is already weak and in decline?
4. How does the Commission intend to counter this kind of approach to childhood education, which is unsuitable and detrimental to the development of a more holistic approach based on a less pragmatic world view which looks at life from a broader perspective, allowing room for spiritual and emotional considerations as well?
Ms Muscardini's email address is:  cristiana.muscardini@europarl.europa.eu

On page 16, Standards for Sexuality Education in Europe tells us  that it is building on the work of It's all One Curriculum, sex education guidelines published by the Population Council and International Planned Parenthood Federation in 2009 funded, amongst others, by the UK's Department for International Development. I wrote about this document two years ago and pointed out that it:
  • Tars heterosexual marriage with the brush of suspicion, whereas homosexual marriage is lauded as great social progress.
  • Contains a thinly-veiled warning to teachers not to obstruct children's so-called sexual rights or children's access to secret abortions without parental knowledge or consent.
  • Presents self-abuse as a human right.
Thank God for the action taken by Ms Muscardini MEP. It's vital that parents, pro-lifers, politicians, and church leaders never tire in protecting children from corruption and abortion - on this occasion at the behest of the World Health Organization.

Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk
Sign up for alerts to new blog-posts and/or for SPUC's other email services
Follow SPUC on Twitter
Like SPUC's Facebook Page
Please support SPUC. Please donate, join, and/or leave a legacy

Coronation St assisted suicide episode risks misleading public

Next Monday's Coronation Street
A forthcoming episode of a popular British soap-opera risks misleading the public on the issue of assisted suicide.

Next Monday's Coronation Street storyline depicts 'Hayley', a character with terminal cancer, opting for assisted suicide. 'Hayley' fears that painkillers will cloud her mental processes in the dying phase and thus she opts for assisted suicide in order to take control of her death.

Anthony Ozimic, SPUC Pro-Life's communications manager, told the media this morning:
"Soap operas are successful vehicles for creating emotion, fear and loyalty among the viewing public, but very poor vehicles for fostering the rational, ethics-based and evidence-rich debate needed on assisted suicide. We fear that Monday's storyline will fail to give a medically-accurate depiction of the reality of palliative care in Britain today, which is highly effective in managing both pain-reduction and consciousness.

The public, through no fault of its own, is not well-informed on the issues of assisted suicide and palliative care. Objective, high-quality information on medical ethics is still sorely lacking in schools, universities, and the media. Opinion polls do not convey the facts that the majority of the medical profession does not support assisted suicide, and that the British Parliament has voted several times in recent years against a change in the law."
Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk
Sign up for alerts to new blog-posts and/or for SPUC's other email services
Follow SPUC on Twitter
Like SPUC's Facebook Page
Please support SPUC. Please donate, join, and/or leave a legacy

Monday 13 January 2014

New attempt to push Estrela, radical abortion agenda, through European Parliament

New attempt to push Estrela, radical abortion agenda, through European Parliament
As expected, the pro-abortion lobby is trying to resurrect the pro-abortion Estrela report, rejected by the European Parliament last month. The European Parliament plenary agenda scheduled for 16 January includes a statement from the European Commission on "Non-discrimination in the framework of sexual and reproductive health and rights". The Estrela report promoted abortion on demand, restriction of freedom of conscience, and compulsory sex education at primary and secondary school. [Pat Buckley, 10 January]

Other stories:

Abortion
Embryology
  • Babies will be genetically sequenced from birth within our lifetime, claims expert [Telegraph, 10 January]
Sexual ethics
General
Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk
Sign up for alerts to new blog-posts and/or for SPUC's other email services
Follow SPUC on Twitter
Like SPUC's Facebook Page
Please support SPUC. Please donate, join, and/or leave a legacy

Sunday 12 January 2014

Congratulations Archbishop Nichols

I have just heard the news that Archbishop Vincent Nichols is to be made Cardinal next month. On behalf of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children I congratulate him on this important appointment for Catholics in England and Wales. I can confidently assure His Grace of the earnest prayers of our supporters, both Catholic and non-Catholic as he assumes his new office.

As Pope John Paul II has said, bishops ... "are the first ones called to be untiring preachers of the Gospel of life" (Evangelium Vitae 82). With 570 babies killed daily in Britain and countless mothers and others deeply damaged by abortion may God bless Archbishop Nichols as he assumes his new role.

Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk
Sign up for alerts to new blog-posts and/or for SPUC's other email services
Follow SPUC on Twitter
Like SPUC's Facebook Page
Please support SPUC. Please donate, join, and/or leave a legacy

Thursday 9 January 2014

Belgium’s oldest athlete killed at his ‘euthanasia party’

Top stories:

Belgium’s oldest athlete killed at his ‘euthanasia party’ [LifeSiteNews.com, 8 January]

Parents’ role in sex education must be protected, say MPs and family groups
MPs and family groups have written to Michael Gove MP, the Secretary of State for Education, stating that parents must be supported and upheld as the primary educators of their children when it comes to sex education. The letter, signed by 20 groups and individuals, supports Mr Gove in his refusal to amend current guidelines on teaching sex and relationships education (SRE) in schools. [SPUC, 8 January]

Ask MEPs to vote against pro-homosexual Lunacek report
Between 3 and 6 February, the European Parliament is expected to debate and vote upon a report by Ulrike Lunacek, an Austrian MEP and the co-president of the European Parliament's homosexual rights group. The report is entitled "Roadmap against homophobia and discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity". Proponents of homosexual unions and the homosexual agenda are embarking on an attack on a fundamental natural institution - marriage. SPUC supporters are therefore urged to email MEPs, telling them to vote against the Lunacek report. [SPUC, 6 January]

Other stories:

Abortion
Population
Euthanasia
Sexual ethics
Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk
Sign up for alerts to new blog-posts and/or for SPUC's other email services
Follow SPUC on Twitter
Like SPUC's Facebook Page
Please support SPUC. Please donate, join, and/or leave a legacy

Wednesday 8 January 2014

Parents’ role in sex education must be protected, say MPs and family groups

Michael Gove, education secretary
MPs and family groups have written to Michael Gove MP, the Secretary of State for Education, stating that parents must be supported and upheld as the primary educators of their children when it comes to sex education - see full text of letter further below.

The letter, signed by 20 groups and individuals, supports Mr Gove in his refusal to amend current guidelines on teaching sex and relationships education (SRE) in schools. The Telegraph "Wonder Woman" Campaign is among those championing a re-write of the guidelines and sees Mr Gove as the only blockage in their way. But family campaigners fear any such move would further undermine the role of parents and pave the way for compulsory sex education.

Antonia Tully of the SPUC Safe at School campaign told the media this morning:
"There are over 90 references to the importance of parents in the current guidelines which, as we say in the letter to Mr Gove, is an important recognition that parents matter. Those lobbying to change the guidelines have no intention of involving parents in any re-drafting.

We keep hearing that so-called ‘experts’ are needed to develop and deliver sex education in schools. We are saying that parents are the experts. We look forward to a response from Mr Gove."
The full text and list of signatories of the letter follow below.

Open letter to Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, Secretary of State for Education

8 January 2014

Dear Mr Gove,

Sex and Relationships Education Guidance

Thank you for resisting the pressure to amend the current guidelines on teaching sex and relationships education (SRE).

We support and uphold parents as the primary educators in this important aspect of a child's education. Current guidance for schools on teaching SRE repeatedly emphasises the role of parents. We fear that changing the guidelines risks removing references to the importance of parents and would be a dangerous step towards compulsory sex education at all key stages.

Those demanding a review of current SRE guidelines do not want parents included in the review process. The Telegraph "Wonder Woman" campaign to bring sex education into the 21st century is calling for "young people, teachers, professionals and online experts" to review the guidelines.
This call has been taken up by three Labour Peers as an amendment to the Children and Families Bill.

Parents must be affirmed in their role as the main educators of their children in matters of sex and relationships. Schools can support them in this role, but should not take over from parents. Sex education is a delicate issue and parents need to be encouraged to teach their children about sexual matters within their own moral framework.

Parents also have a crucial role to play in protecting their children from the influence of pornography via the widespread access to the internet available to children and young people. Most parents would prefer their children not to watch pornography. Yet the ideas being promoted by the Sex Education Forum on teaching pornography in the classroom are focussed on helping pupils to explore pornography, not warning them against it.

Current guidelines on sex education contain over 90 references to parents. This is an important recognition that parents matter. Another recognition of the primacy of parents is their right to withdraw their children from sex education.

This parental right has been under attack in those primary schools which deliver graphic sex education in compulsory science lessons from which parents cannot withdraw their children. We are pleased to see that the new National Curriculum for science in primary schools is clear that information about human sexual reproduction is not to be given in science lessons. We are also pleased that personal, social and health education was not made a compulsory school subject in the new National Curriculum.

The right of parents to withdraw their children from sex education is constantly threatened. Although this right is exercised by a minority of parents, its existence helps schools to resist pressure to use inappropriate material. There is absolutely no evidence that removing this right would have any adverse impact on the well-being of children and we urge you to maintain this important right for parents.

Further, there is no evidence that graphic sex education in primary schools lowers teenage pregnancies. A number of robust studies show that access to abortion and contraception, widely promoted in secondary schools, has not reduced under-18 conceptions.

Please remain firm in opposing any change to the current SRE guidance.

Yours sincerely,

Antonia Tully - SPUC Safe at School
Norman Wells - Family Education Trust
Sue Relf - Challenge Team
Dr Chris Richards – Lovewise
Mrs Valerie Ward – Union of Catholic Mothers
Edmund Adamus - Director for Marriage & Family Life, Diocese of Westminster
Tahera Ayazi – Tower Hamlets Parents Action Group
Yusuf Patel – SREIslamic
Professor David Paton -  Nottingham University Business School
Dr Lisa Nolland – Lords and Commons Family and Child Protection Group
Kathy Hearne - Campaign to Protect Children
James Wiltshire - Christian Parent Talk

David Amess MP
Bob Blackman MP
David Davies MP
Philip Davies MP
Jeffrey Donaldson MP
Mary Glindon MP
Sir Gerald Howarth MP
Jim Shannon MP
Sammy Wilson MP

Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk
Sign up for alerts to new blog-posts and/or for SPUC's other email services
Follow SPUC on Twitter
Like SPUC's Facebook Page
Please support SPUC. Please donate, join, and/or leave a legacy

Monday 6 January 2014

Ask MEPs to vote against pro-homosexual Lunacek report

Ulrike Lunacek MEP
Between 3 and 6 February, the European Parliament is expected to debate and vote upon a report by Ulrike Lunacek, an Austrian MEP and the co-president of the European Parliament's homosexual rights group. The report is entitled "Roadmap against homophobia and discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity".

The Lunacek report:
  • calls for the European Commission and European Union (EU) member-states to recognise homosexual unions contracted in other countries. The aim is to have a pro-homosexual definition of marriage accepted across the whole of the EU. This is a direct attack against true marriage i.e. between a man and a woman.
  • calls upon EU member-states to register and investigate so-called hate crimes against homosexuals, and adopt criminal legislation prohibiting incitement to hatred on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. Such legislation serves only to stop people from expressing opposition to the homosexual agenda and has little to do with actual hate.
  • calls upon the EU Commission to continue its current monitoring of issues linked to sexual orientation and gender identity in accession countries. This is a push to make the homosexual rights agenda a condition for membership of the EU.
Proponents of homosexual unions and the homosexual agenda are embarking on an attack on a fundamental natural institution - marriage. These attacks inevitably leave very many innocent and vulnerable victims. Marriage as an institution protects children, both born and unborn. Statistics show that unborn children are much safer within marriage than outside marriage. Same-sex marriage represents an attempt to redefine marriage, thus undermining marriage. This undermining lessens the protection for unborn children which true marriage provides.

You are therefore urged to email MEPs, telling them to vote against the Lunacek report. How to contact MEPs:
Please remember to forward any replies you receive from MEPs to SPUC's political department, either by email to political@spuc.org.uk or by post to SPUC HQ.

Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk
Sign up for alerts to new blog-posts and/or for SPUC's other email services
Follow SPUC on Twitter
Like SPUC's Facebook Page
Please support SPUC. Please donate, join, and/or leave a legacy