The Catholic Archbishop of Kingston has said that the Catholic Church would not support the legalisation of abortion in Jamaica. Speaking at a men's breakfast held at Stella Maris Pastoral Centre last Saturday, Archbishop Lawrence Burke said: "Scripture, tradition and science are clearly showing that human life begins at conception. The new evidence of science is that at the very moment of conception, that zygote or whatever you want to call it has its own individuality and its own DNA. The Catholic Church, looking at the reality of what is in the womb, says we don't care how it got there, this is human life, we cannot kill human life, even in those particular circumstances... It's not that we are heartless, but we don't see how we can sacrifice human life because of someone's shame, or because of the difficulties one might endure." [Jamaica Gleaner, 17 March]
Pro-abortion feminists in Italy disrupted a public appearance by a leading pro-life activist. Giuliano Ferrara, who launched a movement for a worldwide moratorium on abortion, was speaking in Padua when the group of around 200 women interrupted him and police were forced to intervene. [CWNews, 17 March]
The wife of the Polish president has expressed support for IVF but said that the state cannot fund it. In an interview for Wprost magazine, Mrs Maria Kaczynska said: "I support in vitro fertilization because I understand the tragedy of people who want to have children, but cannot...Given current health care problems, where there is not enough money for lifesaving procedures, it is difficult for the government to fund in vitro fertilization." [CWNews, 17 March] Comment: Paul Tully, General Secretary of SPUC said: "Nations which acknowledge the right to life of the unborn, even if imperfectly, should recognise that the practice of IVF denies the lives of millions of unborn children and also subjects many to inhuman conditions. It breeds a mentality of 'objectification' of the early human person."
The Swiss euthanasia group Dignitas has reopened its clinic next to Switzerland's largest brothel. Dignitas was evicted from its previous location after complaints from local residents and had difficulties finding another facility in which to operate before moving to the village of Schwerzenbach. Karl Rütsche, a spokesman for Schwerzenbach village council, said: "Of course, as a council we tried to stop them moving here and we fought the Dignitas decision tooth and nail. We didn't want the country's biggest sex club and largest death factory side-by-side on our doorstep." [LifeSite, 17 March]