Boris Johnson’s team has ditched plans developed under Theresa May to allow transgender people change their birth certificates without a medical diagnosis, which is the law in Ireland since 2015.

Liz Truss, the Equalities Minister, will publish the details in an official response to a public consultation on the Gender Recognition Act.

Under the leaked plans, proposals for people to self-identify their gender will be abandoned and those wanting to change their birth certificate will still need medical approval. Under current rules applicants have to produce two medical reports that they have suffered from gender dysphoria — usually from their GP and one other registered medical practitioner or psychologist. They are also required to show that they have lived in their chosen gender identity for two years and intend to do so for the rest of their lives.

Under the plans there will also be a crackdown on “quack” doctors to ensure that only reputable medics can give approvals.

Additionally, safeguards will be put in place to protect “safe spaces” for women, reaffirming provisions in the Equalities Act. New national guidelines on lavatory provision are likely to be introduced, replacing the “free-for-all” in which councils set their own rules, which has seen a rise in gender-neutral bathrooms.

More than 100,000 responses were received to the consultation, and 70% of those purportedly backed the idea that anyone should be able to declare that they are a woman or a man. However, officials dismissed the consultation as they believe the results were skewed by an avalanche of responses generated by trans rights groups.

The state of religious freedom in China has further deteriorated over the past year, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said on Wednesday, as his department unveiled a blistering assessment of the country’s treatment of religious groups.

China’s “state-sponsored repression against all religions continues to intensify”, Pompeo told reporters at the release of the “2019 International Religious Freedom Report”.

“The mass detentions of Uygurs in [the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region] continues, so does the repression of Tibetan Buddhists and Falun Gong and Christians,” said Pompeo, accusing the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) of seeking to “infuse communist dogma” into faith groups’ teachings.

Last year began with China’s formal adoption of a five-year plan to “Sinicise” Islam, a strategy to bring the religion and its practitioners in line with Party doctrine.

In 2019 the Chinese government had “tortured, physically abused, arrested, detained, sentenced to prison, subjected to forced indoctrination in CCP ideology, or harassed adherents of both registered and unregistered religious groups for activities related to their religious beliefs and practices,” said the report, which devoted some 45,000 words to the situation in China.

Specifically in the province of Xinjiang, the US government believes that “more than one million” Uygurs and other ethnic minority groups have been detained in mass internment camps for the purpose of forced indoctrination since April 2017, said the report, echoing similar estimates made by the United Nations.

An academic at Fudan University in Shanghai has suggested that the Chinese government allow women to marry two or three husbands.

In a June 2 column, Professor Yew-Kwang Ng asked, “Is polyandry really a ridiculous idea?”

“I wouldn’t suggest polyandry if the gender ratio was not so severely imbalanced …” he wrote. “I’m not advocating for polyandry, I’m just suggesting that we should consider the option in the face of an imbalanced gender ratio … If two men are willing to marry the same wife and the woman is willing, too, what reason does society have to stop them sharing a wife?”

The professor said there are advantages to monogamy; it is good for children’s well-being.

“But given China’s skewed sex ratio, it’s necessary to consider allowing polyandry legally,” he continued.

Sex-selection abortions accompanied by the country’s oppressive one child policy have led to at least 71 million women being missing from society. Many men cannot find girlfriends and wives because they were aborted as babies; and the country’s population is aging rapidly because children are not being born.

The number of abortions that took place in England and Wales last year was the highest ever.

That’s according to official statistics published today.

209,519 abortions took place in the two countries in 2019.

The abortion rate at 18.0 per 1,000 women means that 1 out 4 viable pregnancies ended in abortion.

The Report also shows that 375 Irish residents had an abortion in England and Wales in 2019, down from 2,879 in 2018.

Nonetheless, the number of Irish babies with Down Syndrome aborted in England increased dramatically from 17 in 2018 to 27 in 2019.

Commenting on the figures, a spokesperson for the Pro-Life Campaign, Maeve O’Hanlon said it was inevitable that the number of Irish abortions occurring in England would drop considerably but, “the heart-breaking reality is, regardless of where it happens, with every abortion a new and unique human being has his or her life ended”.

They also criticised the Government for concentrating on rolling out abortion facilities all over the country, rather than promoting positive alternatives to it.

Religious freedom advocates have warmly welcomed the Executive Order Advancing International Religious Freedom signed by President Trump on June 2^nd.

According to Daniel Philpott, a professor of political science at the University of Notre Dame, the second sentence of the order contains words that these advocates have been waiting for years to hear a president utter: “Religious freedom for all people worldwide is a foreign policy priority of the United States, and the United States will respect and vigorously promote this freedom.”

He says the words are important because they follow the affirmation that: “Religious freedom, America’s first freedom, is a moral and national security imperative.”

Philpott freely admits President Trump is an unlikely promoter of human rights. Still, he says, “if the message is crippled by the messenger, the message still merits support when it is the right one”.

“The Trump administration, whose staff includes sincere and dedicated experts on the issue, has promoted global religious freedom through: an annual ministerial conference that has brought together hundreds of foreign policy officials, religious leaders and civil society leaders from around the world; the appointment of Sam Brownback as a committed and effective ambassador-at-large for international religious freedom; and, now, last week’s executive order”.

The Irish Catholic bishops’ have published guidelines to enable the safe reopening of churches for the public celebration of mass on June 29^th.

The new Framework Document recommends that pews be cordoned off with one person allowed sit “at the end of each free row while permitting those from the same household to sit together”.

The obligation to attend Sunday Mass and holy days remains dispensed with while Communion should be received in the hand while priests and ministers of the Eucharist wearing a face covering.

Priests and such ministers should “visibly” sanitise their hands before and after distribution of Communion while the procession for Communion may require the assistance of stewards.

Altar servers should help only when all physical distancing requirements are met while the sign of peace “can be omitted” or is offered without physical contact.

In a statement, the Bishops said in all circumstances the safety and health of people, ministers, and priests must be paramount. They added: “No church should be opened for public prayer or worship until satisfactory arrangements, as indicated in this Framework, have been put in place.”

The Supreme Court has granted the State’s bid to overturn a previous High Court finding that the word “child” in the International Protection Act could extend beyond biological and adopted children for family reunification purposes.

The definition of “child”, as used in the relevant provision of the 2015 Act (section 56.9.d) “can only be a reference to a biological/adoptive child of the sponsor”, the court ruled on Tuesday.

That is “the literal and ordinary meaning of the word”, Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne said, when giving the five-judge court’s judgment.

This was reinforced by the legislative history of the 2015 Act which, unlike earlier legislation, excluded grandparents, wards or guardians, from the definition of “member of the family”, she said.

It is not clear what implications there may be for the definition of parenthood in cases of donor IVF and surrogacy where the concept of intention, rather than nature or adoption, establishes parenthood.

The Catholic Church in Ireland has issued a call for volunteers to help with preparing for a reopening of churches for public mass on June 29^th.

The call was made by the Archbishop of Armagh, Eamon Martin during a homily he gave for Trinity Sunday.

The Archbishop Martin said that for the next few weeks parishes will prepare for the reopening, adding that it will happen slowly and tentatively at first.

“Because of recommendations on physical distancing and hygiene, it will be necessary to reduce considerably the number of people who can gather inside church buildings at any one time. A small number of our liturgical customs may have to be adjusted to take account of health recommendations. I appeal to our congregations to be patient and understanding, and to cooperate in helping us fulfil our Church guidelines”, he said.

“I also call on the younger members of our parishes to step forward in helping us manage the transition back to full parish life and celebration of the sacraments. We will need volunteers to assist with cleaning, stewarding, reading, ministering the Eucharist and other roles and responsibilities which some of our older members may be unable to fulfil at this time”.

A bill introducing “no-fault” divorces in England and Wales has passed its first hurdle in the Commons by 231 votes to 16 against.

In a letter to the Telegraph, MPs including Sir Desmond Swayne, Sir John Hayes and Fiona Bruce urged the government to focus on helping couples reconcile instead of “undermining the commitment of marriage”. They said the bill was badly-timed, arguing that many “otherwise durable” marriages were under “intense Covid-related strain”.

Currently, in order to start divorce proceedings immediately, one spouse has to allege adultery, unreasonable behaviour or desertion has taken place.

Under the proposed law, they will only have to state that the marriage has broken down irretrievably.

The bill – which has already been passed by the House of Lords – also removes the possibility of contesting the decision to divorce.

At the moment, someone wishing to obtain a divorce without the consent of their spouse must live apart from them for five years.

Divorce proceedings will still be challengeable on certain grounds including fraud and coercion. Currently fewer than 2% of divorce cases are contested.

The bill also introduces a new option, allowing couples to jointly apply for a divorce, where the decision to separate is a mutual one. Under the proposals, there must be a minimum six-month period between the lodging of a petition to the divorce being made final.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) is considering a case against the Irish State over the constitutional requirement that the president and Council of State members must make a religious declaration before taking office.

The court has asked the parties to make efforts to reach a “friendly settlement” prior to any hearing taking place.

The case concerns articles of the Constitution which provide, that before taking office, the president and members of the Council of State must swear a declaration “in the presence of almighty God”.

Social Democrats TD Róisín Shortall, Sinn Féin TD John Brady, Independent Senator David Norris, former Barnardos chief executive Fergus Finlay and Trinity College chancellor David McConnell in October 2018 asked the ECHR to admit their case alleging the declarations breach their rights.

The applicants claim the articles exclude conscientious non-Christians, non-believers and those who do not wish to violate their consciences from the Office of President and membership of the Council of State.