News,
Lobby to keep anti-life sex ed out of this parliament and the next
SPUC is calling upon its supporters to continue to lobby parliament against the government's sex education plans. The Children, Schools and Families bill is before the House of Lords, awaiting committee. SPUC warns that whatever happens to the bill, legislation on sex education will be an issue soon after the imminent general election. [SPUC, 11 March] http://is.gd/aSXe9
Online petitions against government sex education
A petition against anti-life sex education, addressed to the Catholic bishops of England and Wales, closes on 25 March. SPUC is asking its supporters resident in England and Wales to sign and promote the petition. [John Smeaton, 18 March] http://is.gd/aNcby Another online petition against the bill, against the bill and compulsory sex education in general, has also been launched. [PetitionOnline, 19 March] http://is.gd/aSOVH
Ed Balls' department recommends explicit sex ed video used in Anglican primary school
Lisa Bullivant, a mother from Lincolnshire, UK, has taken her seven year old daughter out of her school after she was made to watch a cartoon showing a couple chasing each other around a bed and having sex. Mrs Bullivant said that the cartoon was graphic and that her daughter had been frightened by watching it. Mrs Bullivant also said that some of the children had been copying what they had seen. A spokesperson for the children services department at Lincolnshire council said that the DVD had been recommended by the government’s department for Children, Schools and Families and that they are happy with the school’s use of the DVD. The head teacher of the school has refused to comment. Thousands of copies of the DVD are in circulation in schools around the country. [Daily Mail, 5 March] http://is.gd/9KWyW
Spanish king cooperated with evil by signing abortion law, says bishop
Bishop Juan Antonio Reig Pla, of Alcala de Henares, Spain, has said that by signing a bill into law that liberalises abortion in Spain, King Juan Carlos has actively cooperated with the evil of abortion. The bishop said that the king could have refused to sign the law. He added that the law would also lead to an imposition of sexual education and gender ideology in schools. [Catholic News Agency, 9 March] http://is.gd/a7xrW The Catholic bishops of Spain have responded to the liberalisation of abortion by arranging to put up 13,000 pro-life billboards in 37 cities. The billboards depict the various stages of development in the womb and have as their focus a newly born child resting in a pair of outstretched hands. [Fr Tim Finigan, 9 March] http://is.gd/a71MI The Spanish public has responded to the liberalisation of the abortion law by taking to the streets in protest. Close to one million Spaniards in cities across the country took part in the International March for Life 2010 day. The day was organised by more than 300 different pro-life groups. [Catholic News Agency, 9 March] http://is.gd/a73k4 Human Life International (HLI), the largest pro-life organisation in the world, has said that by signing abortion into law the king of Spain has automatically excommunicated himself from the Catholic Church. Monsignor Ignacio Barreiro, executive director of HLI's Rome office, said that his signing of the law resulted directly in the enactment of the gravely immoral expansion of abortion. [LifeSiteNews.com, 5 March] http://is.gd/a2czW
UK pharmacist refuses to sell the contraceptive pill
A female pharmacist in Sheffield, England, has told a customer that she couldn’t sell her contraceptive pills due to her religious beliefs. The customer was informed that she could collect the pills the following day from a different pharmacist. The pharmacy have made a public apology to the customer and launched an investigation into the matter. [BBC, 9 March] http://is.gd/a6Smu
Euthanasia workshop in Dublin is forced to change venue.
Dr Philip Nitschke’s scheduled euthanasia workshop in Dublin, Ireland, has been forced to change venue. The event was scheduled for 19 March and was due to be staged by the Health Board executive at a venue in central Dublin. Niamh Uí Bhriain of the Life Institute said that the workshop was illegal and disturbing. She also said that a close eye would be kept on the potential re-scheduling of the event. [Patrick Buckley, 9 March] http://is.gd/a6YLe
Bishops election guide inadequate and relies on ‘seamless garment’ error, says SPUC.
SPUC has said that the Catholic Bishops of England and Wales's election guide is inadequate. SPUC has said that the document has some good insights into the plight of families and that it is good that it challenges politicians to act ethically. However, SPUC say it both is inadequate from a pro-life perspective and fails to give voters clear guidance how to make the best choice when voting. SPUC has criticised the bishops’ use of the ‘seamless robe’ concept, as it implies that life issues are only one of a variety of moral issues all of an equal moral weight. [John Smeaton, 3 March] http://is.gd/9BSmn
Abortion does not help maternal health, study claims
A study conducted in Chile, to be published later this year, claims that bans on abortion do not lead to an increase in maternal death. Chile legalised abortion in 1931 and banned it completely in 1989. Research has shown that maternal mortality was highest in 1961, in the midst of legalised abortion. Dr. Elard Koch, an epidemiologist on the faculty of medicine at the University of Chile, has said the study shows that access to legal abortion does not appear to be necessary to achieve low rates of maternal deaths. [Americans United for Life, 4 March] http://is.gd/a2crN
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