News,

Top stories

Peru's Catholic bishops have condemned a bill to allow abortion in the cases of rape and foetal deformity. The Peruvian bishops' conference said: "[H]ow can we accept the death penalty for an embryo that hasn't even had the time to commit a mistake and cannot even defend itself?" The bill has been approved by a committee and is due to be debated by the full Peruvian Congress. [Channel News Asia, 13 October] http://is.gd/4gSnq

A lawyer who assisted a jailed activist against China's one-child policy was denied the Nobel Peace Prize given instead to Barack Obama, the pro-abortion American president. Hu Jia was the attorney for Chen Guangcheng, who was jailed for his exposure of the Chinese Communist regime's policy of forced abortions. [LifeNews.com, 9 October] http://is.gd/4gPcR Mr Obama has released hundreds of millions of dollars of US federal funding for pro-abortion and population control groups complicit in China's one-child policy.

A man who was wrongly diagnosed with cancer has been starved and dehydrated on the Liverpool Care Pathway. Jack Jones, 76, had pneumonia and died after two weeks following denial of food and fluids. [Daily Mail, 13 October] http://is.gd/4gQzt SPUC has warned that the Pathway may result in euthanasia.

Other stories

Abortion

• Child rights convention protects unborn says Holy See [John Smeaton, 12 October] http://is.gd/4gPRI
• SPUC contrasts Catholic prelates' comments on Lisbon treaty [John Smeaton, 12 October] http://is.gd/4gPLK
• Vatican newspaper criticises Obama Nobel award, citing his pro-abortion stance [Catholic News Agency, 12 October] http://is.gd/4gR0j

Embryology; stem cells

• Scientist who backs embryo-destruction appointed to Vatican science academy [Catholic News Agency, 12 October] http://is.gd/4gRai

Sexual health; teenage pregnancies

• Birth control pills unpopular in Japan [Japan Today via IPPF, 12 October] http://is.gd/4gPAD

Euthanasia and assisted suicide; disability

• Government statement on chief prosecutor's new rules on assisted suicide [Hansard, 12 October] http://is.gd/4gSRe
• High Court reinstates nurse who exposed neglect [Independent, 13 October] http://is.gd/4gSxI

Marriage and family; sexual ethics

• Gay rights MP appointed UK's Europe minister [Daily Mail, 13 October] http://is.gd/4gRVi
• Obama says ban on gay marriage enshrines discrimination [Catholic Culture, 12 October] http://is.gd/4gPry
• Obama appointee says government has duty to promote homosexuality [Beetle Blogger, 10 October] http://is.gd/4gRLb
• New Helsinki Catholic bishop speaks out against gay marriage [Fr Timothy Finigan, 12 October] http://is.gd/4gQ4V
• Marriage best antidote to violence between couples, says Spanish institute [Catholic News Agency, 12 October] http://is.gd/4gRtB
• Report criticises government policies which push mothers into employment [Christian Institute, 12 October] http://is.gd/4gQi3
• Prostitution is morally reprehensible, says Anglican archbishop [Times, 11 October] http://is.gd/4gS8y

General and miscellaneous

• Polish parish dedicated to pro-life saint [Zenit, 12 October] http://is.gd/4gRjO

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