In England last year, a majority of births (51.3pc) took place outside marriage. In Ireland, the figure is now above 40pc. Some might say that this is a purely private matter, but it’s not true, because family structure is important and the evidence remains that children tend to fare best when raised by their own...
The recent case of Archie Battersbee, who had his life support machine turned off after a long legal battle and against the wishes of his parents, raises questions on whether and when it is morally permissible to do this, and who should decide. The 12-year-old boy suffered brain injury while at home in London, in...
Over 10,000 Canadians died by euthanasia in 2021, 32pc more than in the previous year, according to a new official report. It shows once more that when you open the door to euthanasia and assisted suicide, the numbers availing of them rise rapidly and social norms change. It’s worth look at the report in some...
During the recent row over the planned relocation of the National Maternity Hospital, the very strong impression was given that Ireland would be far better off if the Catholic Church had no involvement in the country’s hospitals at all. A medical Catholic ethos was treated as something very bad and undesirable. In fact, no organisation...
“Pornography to be studied in class”, said the front page of the Irish Independent last week, which is alarming at first glance, but much depends on how this is done because some HSE-backed researchers believe porn can be both ‘ethical’ and ‘positive’. The National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) is currently redesigning the Relationships...
Remarks by David Quinn delivered at the Irish Lawyers Christian Fellowship, July 20, 2022. In his letter from Birmingham jail, Martin Luther King asked the question, “How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust?” He answered: “A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the...
Abortion will be “safe, legal and rare”, was the aspiration of the Government before the 2018 referendum to repeal the 8th amendment. The reality is that abortion in Ireland is far from rare and we now have reached 7,000 terminations per year. In January 2018, when announcing that the Cabinet had agreed to hold a...
More than 6,700 women had an abortion via their GP last year, new official figures indicate, but when the numbers from hospitals are included, plus the number still going to England and Wales, the figure easily exceeds 7,000. The total of 6,700 alone is the highest figure since the 2018 referendum that repealed the 8th amendment....
The very one-sided Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy has recommended the recognition of ‘compensated surrogacy,’ which is commercial surrogacy by another name, in Ireland and abroad. Under the broad notion of “reasonable expenses”, women will be paid large sums of money to carry a child for someone else under the terms of a contract. Almost...
Ireland is currently before the UN Human Rights Committee in order to report on our compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). But the whole process is so deeply flawed, it cannot be taken seriously. For instance, the committee members in practice often know little about the many countries they have...
