News,
Scotland's sexual health strategy has come under renewed criticism from pro-life and Catholic sources, The Scotsman reports. The £20 million plan which all schools in Scotland are expected to follow, has been denounced by Cardinal Keith O'Brien as 'state-sponsored child abuse'. Sister Roseann Reddy, who runs the Catholic Church's Pro-Life Initiative for pregnant teenagers, stated: "More sex education and more contraception isn't working. I know it isn't working because I deal with the consequences every day. The time has come for a change." [The Scotsman, 27 January]
The president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists has called for women to be allowed home abortions using the RU-486 abortion drug. Professor Allan Templeton was speaking at a forum organised by Ian Gibson, chairman of the Commons Select Committee on Science. A government announcement on the scheme is apparently being delayed to avoid its impact on the anticipated general election. Dr Gibson opposed pro-life concerns saying that the Government should not return to what he called the age of backstreet abortions shown in the film Vera Drake. [The Independent, 28 January] Paul Tully, SPUC's General Secretary, commented: "It's ironic that the spectre of back-street abortion should be used to promote abortion not in clinics and hospitals, but at home - in the back-streets. The fact is that abortion advocates are not really worried about the impact of abortion on women's health, except as far as it can be used as a manipulative political tool to promote abortion on demand. "
Pope John Paul II has urged respect for the elderly and a rejection of euthanasia, Lycos reports. In a Lenten message to Catholics, the Pope spoke against "a certain mentality which considers our elderly brothers and sisters as practically useless when they find themselves confronted by reduced capacities by the inconveniences of age or illness." Archbishop Andre-Mutien Leonard of Namur, Belgium, told a news conference that he hoped the euthanasia laws of Belgium and the Netherlands would never be copied in other countries. [Lycos, 27 January]
A US human genetics clinic has announced that it has developed 18 disease-carrying embryonic stem cell lines for use by researchers. The lines were developed from IVF embryos discarded after pre-implantation genetic diagnosis. [Reuters, 27 January]
The president of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America has resigned after eight years in office. Gloria Feldt's 'significant achievements' include overseeing an organisation that performs 200,000 abortions every year, introducing abortion pills and endorsing the failed presidential candidate John Kerry. [The Guardian, 28 January]
A woman has died after a botched abortion at a Kansas abortion facility. The 32-year-old woman was rushed to hospital with 'severe haemorrhaging' and died some days later. Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius has been criticised for vetoing a bill that would have brought about further regulation of abortion facilities. [Lifenews.com, 27 January]
The daughter of St Gianna Beretta Molla, who sacrificed her life to save her unborn child, attended the March for Life in Washington and spoke at the Rose Dinner following the march. Laura Molla, sister of baby Gianna whose life was saved, described during her speech how her mother demanded that if a choice had to be made between her and the baby, that she wanted the baby to be saved. [LifeSiteNews.com, 27 January]
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