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Same-sex marriage left out of UK government's legislative programme

Legislation to refine marriage in English law to include homosexuals has been omitted from the Queen's Speech, the annual announcement of forthcoming legislation. Some commentators believe the omission is partly due to widespread opposition to the proposals, including a ongoing petition which has already collected half-a-million signatures. [BBC, 9 May] John Smeaton, SPUC director, commented: "We must not be complacent. The government is continuing with its consultation on the details of future legislation and remains committed to legislate for same-sex marriage before the next general election. We must move forward quickly to bury the government's proposals."

Other stories:

Abortion

• Chilean study shows better health care, other factors reduce maternal mortality — not legal abortion [NRL, 9 May]
• Coil more effective form of so-called 'emergency contraception' than morning-after pill, scientists say [Metro, 9 May]
• "We had a whole plan to sell abortion, and it was called sex education" (Part 1) [SPUC youth blog, 9 May]
• Compelling new video says history is on the side of unborn children [John Smeaton, 9 May]
• UK child sex ring victim had abortion [Guardian, 8 May]
• US charity's 'bowl-a-thon' paid for 14-year-old's abortion [Mail, 8 May]
• Thousands of pills filled with powdered human baby flesh discovered by customs officials in South Korea [Mail, 7 May]

Sexual ethics

• House of Commons speaker to push for gay rights in Commonwealth [Pink News, 9 May]
• Tory MP issues fresh polygamy warning over marriage equality for gays [Pink News, 9 May]
• Obama endorses gay ‘marriage’: says support based on Jesus, Golden Rule [LifeSiteNews.com, 9 May]
• North Carolina voters pass amendment to ban gay marriage, civil unions and domestic partnerships [Pink News, 9 May]
• Row over 'insulting' New Zealand contraception plans [BBC, 8 May]
• US vice-president comes out in support of gay marriage [Pink Paper, 7 May]

General

• Pro-abortion, pro-gay ‘marriage’ socialist Francois Hollande wins French election [LifeSiteNews.com, 7 May]
• Supporters of euthanasia and abortion 'use the same arguments as the Nazi's did to promote genocide', says Vatican newspaper [Mail, 5 May]

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, 2018