Catholic bishops in the North of Ireland will send a letter to members of the Northern Ireland Assembly to urge them to vote against a Sinn Féin motion to legalise same-sex marriage. The Presbyterian Church has also written to politicians re-stating its opposition to any change in the legal definition of marriage, the BBC reports....
A group of almost 70 psychiatrists will this morning tell TDs and senators they are \”deeply concerned\” at the Government\\\’s plan to legislate for abortion where there is a threat of suicide. The group of 68 psychiatrists signed a statement calling for any proposal to be based on a \”rigorous appraisal of the available psychiatric...
Two Catholic midwives from Scotland have won the right to refuse to take part in abortion in any way. The two women, sisters Mary Doogan, 58, and Concepta Wood, 52, have been engaged in a long-running legal battle to assert their legal right to conscientiously object to assisting in the abortion procedure, the Daily Telegraph...
The Catholic Church\’s Council for Marriage and the Family is to host a conference to showcase its work. The conference, Marriage at the Heart of the Church, aims to explore the Church\’s teaching of marriage and the family. The conference is also designed to stimulate collaboration between the Council for Marriage and the family and...
France\’s lower house of parliament has passed legislation permitting same-sex marriage, despite widespread opposition. Approximately 100,000 demonstrators took to the streets in Paris on Sunday, the fourth major rally in Paris since November 18th. Demonstrations on January 13th and March 24th attracted approximately 800,000 and a million demonstrators, respectively. The bill, which will also give...
Reports about Government in-fighting over supposed plans to introduce restrictive abortion legislation have been dismissed as “face-saving wrangling” by the Pro Life Campaign. Draft legislation is set to come before the Cabinet today, with reports suggesting that Labour are unhappy that agreement between the Coalition parties has not yet been reached. Health Minister James...
Over 1,000 cases of euthanasia were reported in Belgium in 2011 – up from 24 case when the practice was legalised in 2002. The startling figure has led a medical ethicist to warn that once euthanasia is legalised, “it rapidly becomes accepted as normal”. In his blog, Dr Peter Saunders highlighted figures from a report...
The Pro Life Campaign have welcomed the recommendations made by the inquest into the death of Savita Halappanavar. The jury in the inquest returned a unanimous verdict of death by medical misadventure. In a statement, PLC spokesperson Dr Berry Kiely particularly welcomed the inquest’s call for Guidelines providing clarity for doctors in relation to...
Nearly three quarters of US adults believe that popular culture encourages sexual activity among younger people, according to a new poll. The poll, conducted by Rasmussen Reports, found that 71pc of Americans agree that movies, TV and other parts of popular culture encourage sexual activity among young people. Only 18pc disagree, while 11pc are...
A citizen member of the Constitutional Convention has expressed “grave concerns” about the organisation of the debate last weekend at which 79 of the 100 delegates voted in favour of a referendum on same-sex marriage. “The debates were very one sided and almost all of the expert advisors seemed to lean towards reform,” Ms Julie...
