When 17 year old Noa Pothoven died recently in the Netherlands following a long period of mental illness, it was initially and erroneously reported that she died by lethal injection under her country’s euthanasia law. In fact, she was allowed to refuse food and hydration. This is almost as disturbing and still shows a growing...
Both commercial and so-called ‘altruistic’ surrogacy could amount to the sale of children, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children has warned. Our Government normally likes to listen to the UN. Will it do so on this occasion? The report, presented to the UN Human Rights Council, by Ms...
By David Mullins Recent events involving the misdiagnosis of an unborn baby at Holles Street have thrust the issue of prenatal genetic testing and genetic testing in general into the public spotlight. This tragic scenario has also provided a platform for mothers and couples to share their experiences of the pressure that was placed on...
By Margaret Hickey The result of last Friday’s divorce referendum to remove the waiting time of four years from the Constitution was passed by a margin of just over four to one. Not a surprise to anyone on either side of the argument. Ireland has been cresting a liberal wave for a number of years....
Do marriages that end in separation or divorce share certain traits, risk factors that allow us to predict which couples will stay together and which ones will not? The answer is, yes. In my previous blog I referred to the studies of Paul Amato, a sociologist of marriage from Pennsylvania State University. He pointed out...
By David Mullins The tragedy that is currently unfolding around the termination of a perfectly healthy baby who was misdiagnosed as having Trisomy 18, Edward’s Syndrome, is heart breaking. It bears stark witness to the irresponsible and dangerous sloganeering engaged in by those who campaigned for ‘Safe, Legal and Rare’ abortion without ever having properly interrogated...
We are in the middle of a referendum right now on whether the waiting time required before a couple can divorce should be removed from the Constitution. It therefore seems a good time to look at the general issue of divorce, and in particular on what makes a person file for divorce. You might think...
Facebook has censored our new ‘still one of us’ ad campaign which we launched last week. It has been placed behind a notice of warning and we are no longer allowed us to promote it. The campaign is currently running on a number of billboards in various parts of the country and we had extended...
“The institution of marriage in Ireland is in pretty good health”, the Irish Times told us on Monday in an editorial that warned against complacency about the passage of the divorce referendum on May 24th. As for that, it will pass in a canter, but is marriage in Ireland “in pretty good health”? That is...
Two recent reports highlight the growing religious persecution around the world. Christians are the overwhelming majority of those persecuted on grounds of faith but governments are reluctant to react properly on religious oppression, while media downplay its severity. One of the reports, released last week, was commissioned by Jeremy Hunt, Britain’s Secretary for Foreign Affairs,...
