News,

Irish presidential race needs someone like Dana, argues columnist

An Irish columnist has said that the Irish presidential race needs someone like Dana Rosemary Scallon, the pro-life politician. Andrew Lynch wrote that the existing candidates have failed to excite public opinion. He said that Dana "is politically shrewd, utterly sincere in her Christian beliefs and has a personal charm that's conspicuously lacking in some of her rivals." [Irish Herald, 4 August] http://bit.ly/pQjpp3

UK woman tells how she starved her mother to death

A UK woman has recounted how she starved and dehydrated her mother to death. In a new book, Jane Gross claims that her mother Estelle requested her own death. Jane Gross claims that the death was via a lawful "process known as VSED (Voluntary Stopping of Eating and Drinking)" [Daily Mail, 4 August] http://bit.ly/ox4WGB Anthony Ozimic of SPUC commented: "This case should be investigated by the police. There are serious questions to be asked about the mother's mental capacity and about the complicitly of Jane Gross and nursing home staff in what may have been an unlawful homicide."

Question of embryo adoption is closed, says Catholic pro-life leader

The interim president of Human Life International (HLI) says that the question of embryo adoption is closed. Monsignor Ignacio Barreiro Carambula was commenting on a recent debate between two prominent US pro-life Catholic bioethicists. He said: "From a rational perspective it should be clear that embryo adoption is unnatural." [LifeSiteNews.com, 3 August] http://bit.ly/oXlmSu

8,000 pro-lifers rally against Philippines population control bill

8,000 Catholic pro-lifers have attended a rally against the government's population control bill. The clergy and laity of Pagadian diocese, with members of the Human Life International (HLI) Pilipinas, marched through the centre of Pagadian city. [CathNews Philippines, 1 August] http://bit.ly/ozscKc The rally is the latest of many large-scale rallies against the bill across the country.

Indian state offers incentives to discourage sex-selection abortion

Jharkhand state in eastern India is offering financial support to parents of female children in a bid to discourage sex-selection abortion. The incentives include free education and investments. There are a number of religious, cultural and socio-economic factors in India contributing to a prejudice against conceiving girls. [Catholic Culture, 1 August] http://bit.ly/pzwjQV

Obama admin will force insurance coverage of morning-after pills

US President Obama's administration has accepted a recommendation to force health insurance companies to cover morning-after pills. The move is part of Mr Obama's healthcare plans. Jeanne Monahan, director of Family Research Council’s Center for Human Dignity, said: “The mandate will include FDA-approved drugs like Ella and Plan B that are misleadingly labeled ‘emergency contraceptives’ despite the fact that they can actually destroy a developing baby prior to or after implanting in the mother’s womb." [LifeNews.com, 1 August] http://bit.ly/r7A9Cq

Half of Dutch GP's have felt pressured by patients or relatives to euthanize patients, suggests survey

A survey suggests that half of Dutch GPs have felt pressured by patients or their relatives to euthanize patients. The results of the survey of 800 family doctors was reported in an English-speaking Dutch news-website. Alex Schadenberg of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition commented: "It is important to note that the Dutch claim to have a strict euthanasia law, but the facts show otherwise .. The concepts of safeguards, choice and autonomy are only really only the slogans that the euthanasia lobby use." [Euthanasia Prevention Coalition, 29 July] http://bit.ly/qCAyy7

UK health service delays operations as it waits for patients to die, claims report

The UK's National Health Service (NHS) is delaying operations as it waits for patients to die, claims a new report. The report by the Co-operation and Competition Panel comes as the government has ordered the NHS to make billions of pounds in efficiency savings. [Telegraph, 28 July] http://tgr.ph/rh1dT7 Anthony Ozimic of SPUC commented: "Neglecting patients to death is widespread in the UK. Euthanasia by omission of reasonable medical treatment was enshrined in UK statute law by the Mental Capacity Act."

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