The Government has received a C+ grade from the Children’s Rights Alliance in its annual “report card” on the State’s commitments to children. The organisation said the grade showed the Government’s record was improving but it still had more to do, The Irish Times reports. The group praised the establishment by the Government of the...
The French Government is to introduce longer civil ceremonies and a “marriage preparation kit” that will remind soon-to-be husbands and wives what they are signing up for in a bid to reduce the country’s high divorce levels. Currently, the French divorce rate is 50 percent. Announcing the new plans, minister of state for family affairs...
Six children in Britain are to be given hormone injections to delay the onset of puberty because they and their parents believe they suffer from gender-identity-disorder. The monthly injections will postpone the physical changes of adolescence, giving the children more time to make decisions about their identity. It will also make any sex-change operation easier...
A new IVF technique could lead to babies with three genetic parents being a reality within three years, according to reports. The technique is designed to eradicate hereditary disease by using the undamaged DNA of a third party. The method involves transferring the parents’ DNA into a donor egg, meaning the resulting child would inherit...
A New Jersey judge has ruled that a Christian retreat house that refused to allow a same-sex civil union ceremony to be conducted on its premises broke the law, because the US Constitution allows “some intrusion into religious freedom to balance other important societal goals.” On Thursday, administrative judge Solomon A. Metzger ruled that religious...
A new gender identity law which would allow those born as boys and girls to play and compete on their preferred gender’s sports teams, has been proposed in the California State legislature. Under the proposed bill, a girl who claims a male “gender identity” would essentially have the right to try out for a boy’s...
There are now 2 million single-parent families in Britain, the first time this figure has been reached, according to new statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). In addition, almost 40pc of British children now live with either a single parent (24 percent) or a cohabiting couple (14 percent). Some 8,000 same-sex couples now...
The health benefits of marriage are exaggerated and tend to fade over time according to a new study published in the current issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family. The study examined the differences between married, single and cohabiting people in terms of social ties and well-being, including mental health. The study’s authors say...
‘Religious ethos’ has no place in Irish schools according to a prominent Labour TD. Aodhán Ó Ríordáin, vice-chair of the Oireachtas education committee, told The Irish Catholic that “religious ethos has no place in the educational system of a modern republic”. His comments came as senior Church sources accused the Labour Party of ”bullying” Catholic...
Two Catholic midwives in the UK are suing a health board for refusing to recognise their conscientious objection to supervising staff involved in abortions. Mary Doogan, 57, and Concepta Wood, 51, told NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde that delegating, supervising or supporting staff who were participating in abortions would go against their conscience. However officials...
