News Roundup

British MPs make another push for exclusion zones

Another bid is being made in the British parliament to introduce exclusion zones outside abortion facilities aimed at stopping pro-lifers, including those offering pro-life counselling, from gathering nearby. A similar attempt is promised here.

Labour MP Dr Rupa Huq is introducing a bill “to restrict demonstrations in the vicinity of abortion clinics; and for connected purposes.”

If it receives the support of the House, pro-abortion MPs may change tack and add a censorship zone amendment to the Domestic Abuse Bill, during that Bill’s Report Stage.

If introduced, exclusion zones, sometimes called ‘censorship zones’, would effectively ban volunteers from peacefully praying and offering support to women entering abortion clinics across England and Wales.

A spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson said: “By attempting to restrict where women facing unplanned pregnancies can receive compassionate emotional and practical support, the ‘pro-choice’ lobby are removing real choice for women and revealing they’re really just pro-abortion.

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Divorce makes you more likely to die early, US study suggests

Divorce is one factor that can increase someone’s risk of dying early, even more than a lack of exercise, according to a study of thousands of people in the US.

Eli Puterman and his colleagues at the University of British Columbia in Canada, turned to data from 13,611 US adults, aged between 52 and 104, who had filled out detailed questionnaires about their lives and then had their health tracked for six years.

Individuals who had been through a divorce were 45 per cent more likely to die within the six-year period, for example. “It was surprising to see [divorce] so high up there,” says Puterman. “But at the end of the day, our negative relationships really do have a very high impact on our daily well-being and our health, and divorce has probably emerged from years of negative experiences with a spouse.”

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Lough Derg summer pilgrimage cancelled for first time in 192 years

Pilgrimages to Lough Derg have been suspended for the first time in 192 years due to Covid-19, the organisers have confirmed.

The pilgrimage season which usually runs from June 1st to August 15th was suspended for safety reasons because pilgrims who walk bare-footed on the island touch stones with their feet and hands and congregate in a small space.

Father Laurence (La) Flynn, the prior of Lough Derg since 2013, said that confined space on the island, both indoors and outdoors, was the deciding factor behind the decision.

“There is nothing we would wish for more than to welcome pilgrims for the Three Day Pilgrimage,” he said.

“The Lough Derg team have examined every aspect of the relevant Government guidelines and following a thorough analysis the reality was clear: the traditional pilgrimage will not be possible.”

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BBC investigation reveals serious staff concerns at child gender clinic were ‘shut down’

Staff at England’s only gender clinic for children say concerns about the treatments they administered on children were shut down, leaked documents reveal.

Clinicians reported worries that some patients were referred onto a gender transitioning pathway too quickly.

In the transcripts of a review seen by the BBC, staff are damning in their assessment of some parts of the service:

“Let’s pray that I am wrong because if I am not wrong, very many vulnerable children have been very poorly treated and will be left with, potentially, a lifetime of damage here,” one says.

“The reality is, by not doing anything, children are potentially still being medically mismanaged.”

The Tavistock – like other NHS organisations – has a named person clinicians can turn to discuss specific safety concerns.

But staff allege they were discouraged by GIDS Director Polly Carmichael from going to see the Trust’s safeguarding lead, and from referring cases to social services.

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Westminster report warns of ‘unfolding genocide’ in Nigeria against Christians

A new report by UK parliamentarians warns of an “unfolding genocide” in Nigeria against Christians, highlighting the religious element behind the violence. It calls for UK aid to be linked to efforts to protect Nigerian villagers from attacks by Islamist extremists.

The new report by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Freedom of Religion and Belief, Nigeria: Unfolding Genocide?, is the result of an investigation by 100 UK parliamentarians.

It describes attacks on churches and Christians which killed more than 1,000 in 2019. A partner of Release International, which supports victims of violence, estimates 30,000 have been killed since the conflict began in the 1980s. The United Nations put the death toll at 27,000.

Forbes contributor, Ewelina U. Ochab, said there are several steps that need to be taken to address the atrocities and the APPG’s report maps these, including comprehensive investigations and prosecutions. However, she said, “the comprehensive response will not happen until we recognize, once and for all, the nature and severity of the atrocities”.

“If the Nigerian Government is blind to the issue of religious persecution in the country, it is clear that the issue will not be addressed. However, the international community cannot be blind to the reports of atrocities and must ask important questions.”

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‘One size fits all’ rule on indoor gatherings unfair on churches, archbishop says

It is unfair to have a “one size fits all” rule in relation to the number of people who can attend church, according to the Catholic Archbishop of Dublin, Diarmuid Martin.

He was speaking after the Government announced Friday that at most fifty people could attend indoor events, including religious services, a decision that Dr Martin called “strange” and “disappointing”.

Speaking on RTÉ radio’s Morning Ireland, the Archbishop said some churches in the diocese of Dublin are so small that they would not 50 people while others could fit 1,500.

“We’ve worked very hard to prepare churches – to put signage, to arrange stewarding, to ensure there is very little interaction and if you’ve got a church with 1,500 people and only 50 people are allowed to enter, it is surprising.

“We have to find a way in which you have some relationship between the size of the church and the number of people who will come.”

David Pierrepoint, Church of Ireland archdeacon of Dublin agreed with Dr Martin, pointing out that with some large churches, like Christchurch Cathedral it would be unfair to make “someone at the door with a clicker machine” telling people they could not enter once the figure of 50 had been reached.

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NZ court says hospices won’t have to provide assisted dying if Kiwis vote for euthanasia

A High Court judge says hospices will not be forced to provide assisted dying if New Zealanders vote to legalise voluntary euthanasia at this year’s general election.

The decision by Justice Jillian Mallon also says aspects of the End of Life Choice Act are causing confusion among health providers and Kiwis generally.

Hospice New Zealand had asked the court to rule on several questions, including whether organisations can conscientiously object to providing assisted dying, before Kiwis are asked in September to decide on what side of this debate they stand.

Justice Mallon said hospices and other organisations “are entitled to choose not to provide these services”.

“Hospices or other organisations that choose not to offer assisted dying services may employ or engage health practitioners on the basis that these services are not provided by the hospices or organisations, but it will also be necessary to have arrangements for how health practitioners can comply with their objections under the End of Life Choice Act if a request is made of them by a person in the hospice or organisation’s care.”

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Archbishop Eamon Martin welcomes the opening of churches across the island of Ireland

The announcement by the Northern Ireland Executive that Churches may reopen for public worship from 29 June next, the same day as in the South, has been welcomed by the Catholic Archbishop of Armagh.

Dr Eamon Martin said the date is particularly helpful as parishes in cross-border communities will be able to plan together for a safe return to Mass at the same time. Numbers allowed in will be limited and social distancing will apply.

“I have been heartened by the amount of preparation which is already ongoing in our parishes to ensure that our sacred spaces will be as safe as possible when we begin to gather again together in prayer. I expect that we will be beginning in a cautious way at first, and there will be a need for ongoing patience and careful monitoring of the situation, he said.

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‘Quickie divorce’ bill in UK passes another stage

The Conservatives in the UK have passed another stage of a radical no-fault divorce Bill despite extensive opposition from within the party.

The bill removes the need to prove ‘irretrievable breakdown’, and ends fault-based grounds for dissolving a marriage.

Instead, it allows a person to divorce their spouse in six months against their will without giving a reason.

A debate on numerous moderating amendments was held Wednesday evening, but none were passed.

Conservative MP, Sir Edward Leigh, said the changes amount to ‘quickie divorce’, will lead to more marriage breakdown and will hurt the poor the most.

He also said the new regime is unjust to a spouse who is being wronged:

“We should think of the wife who is faithful to her husband for 30 years only for him to run off. She will have no way of getting a divorce that recognises who was in the right and who was in the wrong—that is taken away. . . . We should think of the man or woman who is mentally or physically abused by his or her spouse. He or she will be unable to get any recognition of that through the divorce process. This new system will be blind to all suffering and to all injustice. The spouse being divorced against his or her wishes will have zero opportunity of contesting the divorce to try to save the marriage or to slow things down and plan for the future”.

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House of Commons votes to confirm Northern Ireland abortion regulations

The House of Commons voted Wednesday by a 2 to 1 majority to confirm the extreme abortion regulations recently imposed on Northern Ireland.

The regulations stem from legislation passed by Westminster last July.

The House voted 253 to 136 to confirm them, but there were 261 abstentions.

Carla Lockhart of the Upper Bann constituency said Wednesday was a dark day for Northern Ireland.

She lamented that Westminster had imposed an extreme abortion law on the people of the North in what should have been a devolved matter.

She thanked the 136 parliamentarians who voted for life and added that the unborn babies deserve better.

Jim Shannon, MP for Strangford, called a point of order and said it was his understanding that many abstained because they felt the Northern Ireland Assembly should have been the body that looked at this. “If we add the Noes, who voted against the abortion legislation in this House, and the abstentions, it comes to a figure of 397 out of 650. My point of order is: has the House expressed its true wishes in relation to this legislation?”

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