News,

Top stories:

Commons welcome of DPP assisted suicide policy undermines protection for vulnerable

The House of Commons’ welcome of the Director of Public Prosecutions' (DPP) policy on prosecuting assisted suicide undermines society’s protection of the most vulnerable. Last night the House of Commons passed unopposed a motion to “welcome” the DPP’s guidance, published in February 2010, as well as to encourage advances in palliative care. SPUC Pro-Life has warned that the DPP’s guidance effectively decriminalises assisted suicide by removing any realistic chance of prosecutions for assisting suicide. [SPUC, 28 March]

Department of health seeks to sanitise its abortion partners

23 March 2012: The Health Secretary has announced that abortion clinics are going to be subject to "unannounced inspections" and scrutiny by a team of regulators. SPUC warned that the health secretary’s expression of concern regarding abuses of the Abortion Act are contradicted by Department of Health and Department for International Development policies which promote abortion on demand. [SPUC, 23 March]

African mothers want healthcare not abortion, international conference hears

Mothers in Africa want maternal healthcare, not abortion, an international conference in central London has heard. The "Abortion or maternal health? What should the UK be funding in developing countries?" conference, held by SPUC, heard from an international line-up of leading experts in maternal healthcare, law and research. The conference was attended by medical professionals, bioethicists, students and religious representatives from many countries.[ RSPUC, 22 March]

Sporty mum running for the unborn this year

Veronica Price is a 27 year old mother of 4 children who has decided to put her passion for sport at the service of unborn children. Veronica will be running in the 2012 London Marathon for SPUC and its work of defending children in the womb. Pleae follow the link to read Veronica's story, and how to donate. [SPUC]

Other stories:

Abortion

• London students block union’s attempt to stifle free speech on abortion [Catholic Herald, 27 March]
• US abortion doctor dumps thousands of patient records in trash [LifeNews.com, 27 March]
• UK govt thinks manual vacuum aspirators count as development aid [SPUC youth blog, 26 March]
• Vatican approves new rite of blessing for unborn children [LifeSiteNews.com, 26 March]

Embryology

• Vatican stem cell conference cancelled amid controversy [California Catholic Daily, 26 March]

Population

• Leading Chinese artist speaks about effect of one-child policy [Guardian, 24 March]

Sexual ethics

• Anglican lawyers says Equality Act will force churches to conduct gay marriages [Protect the Pope, 27 March]

General

• Catholic bishops in England give increasing support to pro-life vigils [John Smeaton, 26 March]

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