The right of Catholic hospitals in America not to perform abortions is under attack by the powerful American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) on the grounds that it violates their patients’ right to ‘healthcare’. The ACLU has written to the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid asking them to investigate and take action against Catholic hospitals that...
Senator Ronan Mullen has condemned the guillotining of today’s debate on the Civil Partnership Bill in the Seanad. The Seanad was debating a series of amendments tabled by a number of senators including Ronan Mullen, Jim Walsh, John Hanafin and Labhras O Murchu. The amendments included a conscience clause. The Bill was at Committee Stage...
Three leading Fianna Fáil Senators have resigned the Government Whip in order to vote in favour of their amendments to Civil Partnership Bill. Among their amendments is a conscience clause. The three senators are John Hanafin (pictured), Jim Walsh and Labhrás Ó Murchu. In a letter sent today to the Government Whip in the Seanad,...
New legislation which will make it easier to adopt children whose parents are married is being drafted by the Government. It will also make it easier for adopted children to trace their parents. The legislation, set to be published before a referendum on children’s rights, after the Dáil’s summer break, will also allow for the...
A major new initiative to promote and defend marriage has been launched by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB). The project, entitled Marriage: Unique for a Reason, has been put together by the USCCB’s Ad Hoc Committee for the Defense of Marriage. The initiative, designed to help educate Catholics on the meaning of marriage...
A resolution aimed at attacking the right of medical practioners to opt out of performing abortions and other procedures they conscientiously object to is set for a vote in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in October. The draft resolution asks the Member States to oblige healthcare providers “to provide the desired...
Independent Senator Ronan Mullen is to table amendments to the Civil Partnership Bill, to protect freedom of conscience for people with religious and ethical concerns around civil partnership on Wednesday. Last week the Dáil passed all stages of the Bill without a vote. The Seanad cannot prevent the Bill from passing into law, but can...
Same-sex couples may soon be allowed to use religious marriage ceremonies in places of worship when entering into civil partnerships in the UK, a Cabinet Minister has revealed. Lynne Featherstone, the Equalities minister, said in a written Parliamentary answer on Wednesday that the Coalition Government is looking at allowing same-sex couples to use “religious readings,...
The Civil Partnership Bill passed all stages in the Dáil last night, with no need for a division. No provision was made for a conscience clause. Fine Gael TD Seymour Crawford (pictured) asked Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern to include such a clause, saying that under the current Bill “there is no room for conscience”....
Independent Trinity Senator Shane Ross has become the latest high profile politician to call for a free vote on the Government’s Civil Partnership Bill. Speaking during the Order of Business on Tuesday, Senator Ross, a member of the Church of Ireland, said that, given that the Bill was of “deep concern and a conscientious concern”...
