Last week, the Dáil began debating the Assisted Human Reproduction Bill but, in reality, there was no debate. Assisted Human Reproduction (AHR) poses many serious ethical and legal questions but very few objections were raised by our TDs. This is a typical pattern in these debates. The Bill is very permissive and adult-centered in its...
Dr Dermot Kearney is an Irish physician working in England. Through use of the Abortion Reversal Pill (APR) treatment, he has saved at least 20 babies who would otherwise have been lost to abortion. Abortion provider, Marie Stopes International, made a complaint against him to the General Medical Council, but the complaint was recently dismissed....
As a statistician interested in pro-life issues, I was naturally interested in making a Submission to the current abortion review. Having analysed data from the first two years of our new abortion regime, I gathered the findings (plus commentary) into a Word document, and attached this Word document to an email which I then sent...
Why do birth rates keep falling? A common explanation is that the cost of living is the main factor, especially the rising cost of accommodation. But an alternative explanation is that the main reason is changing social attitudes. An important new study provides plenty of evidence that the second explanation is the stronger one. The...
The Minister for Health has invited members of the public and organisations to submit their opinions on how the current abortion law is operating. It is not a review of the law per se but how it is being implemented from day-to-day. Obviously, all pro-life groups would like the law to be reversed completely, but...
A new assisted human reproduction Bill, presented this week by Cabinet, will allow the use of sperm or eggs from a deceased person. The children produced will be deliberate semi-orphans, one of their parents dead before they are even conceived. This is one of several big ethical problems with the legislation. The final text of...
It is now 25 years since the formal introduction of divorce to Ireland. Although we had the referendum in 1995, the law itself was not passed until 1997. The analysis I have read so far of the anniversary has been shallow and self-congratulatory. It is as though there is no downside at all to divorce....
One of the star academics of the present time is Professor Laurie Santos who lectures on the science of happiness at Yale University. Santos investigates what kind of things result in greater happiness, and religious practice is on the list. For example, in an interview this week in the New York Times, she says: “There’s...
Supporters of assisted suicide often say that permitting the procedure would lead to a reduction in non-assisted suicide because it would provide a better alternative. A new study suggests this is not true. In countries where assisted suicide is available, non-assisted suicides do not necessarily reduce in number. The study by David Albert Jones, director...
Exit International, one of the most radical pro-euthanasia organisations in the world, has launched an Irish branch. They want almost no limits on euthanasia/assisted suicide. They believe that any adult who wishes to kill themselves, and is mentally competent, should be facilitated in doing so. The person doesn’t have to be sick, let alone terminally...
