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A court set up under the British government's pro-euthanasia Mental Capacity Act has elicited thousands of complaints about its decisions in financial matters. The Court of Protection has the power to govern the financial and other affairs of mentally incapacitated people. 3,000 complaints have been made by patients' relatives about the court's heavy-handed and intrusive behaviour. [Daily Mail, 25 October] http://is.gd/4CkcG Anthony Ozimic of SPUC Pro-Life said: "We warned during the Mental Capacity Act's passage that a dangerous and extremely powerful legal bureaucracy was being established, transferring autonomy away from individuals and placing them at the mercy of officials. The Mental Capacity Act is unethical and unworkable and must be scrapped."

The constitutional court in Peru has said that the morning-after pill may be abortifacient. The court has ruled supplying morning-after pills at public health care facilities is unconstitutional, as Peru's constitution forbids abortion. The ruling, however, still allow morning-after pills to be sold in pharmacies, provided that buyers are told that they may cause abortions. [Catholic News Agency, 23 October] http://is.gd/4CtUF

Catholic bishops from Africa have condemned the pro-abortion Maputo Protocol as "obnoxious". Concluding the Synod on Africa in Rome, the bishops issued a joint statement "denounc[ing] all surreptitious attempts to destroy and undermine the precious African values of family and human life." The Maputo Protocol is a charter of rights which has been adopted by the African Union. [LifeSiteNews.com, 23 October] http://is.gd/4CzUO

Other stories

Abortion

• 1000 Crosses procession against abortion to be held in London on 14 November [Independent Catholic News, 23 October] http://is.gd/4CwCp
• Brazil's ruling Labor party moves to punish members who oppose abortion [LifeSiteNews.com, 26 October] http://is.gd/4CLJK

Embryology; fertility treatment; stem cells

• Disgraced cloning expert convicted for embezzlement and false claims [Guardian, 26 October] http://is.gd/4CItU

Marriage and family; sexual ethics

• Irish government's civil unions bill is a blantant attack on marriage and family [Pat Buckley, 24 October]
• Grandmother who objected to gay march is accused of hate crime [Daily Mail, 26 October] http://is.gd/4CyYJ

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