The HSE spent €2.9 million providing abortions through GPs in 2019.

This refers only to abortions that took place in the first nine weeks of pregnancy, using drugs prescribed and dispensed by a GP, and does not include surgical abortions which occur only in hospital settings and cater for pregnancies beyond nine weeks.

The figure was confirmed by Geraldine Crowley, Assistant National Director, Primary Care Strategy and Planning in response to a parliamentary question from Carol Nolan TD.

Commenting on the News, Deputy Nolan called the figure “staggering”, especially considering that “an almost equal amount of funding (€3.1million) was allocated for the implementation of the entire National Women and Infants Health Programme (NWIHP) in 2019”.

She continued: “When you put this information, and the recent annual report on the number of abortions that took place in 2019 together, what we now have is an emerging sense of how much abortion is going to ‘cost’ in terms of the loss of human life and the financial resources that could be better spent at the community level”.

“It is also clear however that the fees of €2.9 million do not represent anything like the true financial cost because that number only refers to abortions which took place at 9 weeks or under in a community setting. It takes no account of the costs associated with the delivery of abortion ‘services’ beyond 9 weeks and which have to take place in our maternity hospitals.”

A new Pew Research Center survey finds that U.S. adults overwhelmingly say houses of worship should be required to follow the same rules about social distancing and large gatherings as other organizations or businesses in their local area. About eight-in-ten Americans (79%) take this position, four times the share (19%) who think houses of worship should be allowed more flexibility than other kinds of establishments.

This view was shared by the vast majority of believers, with three-quarters of US Christians saying churches should be subject to the same rules as other businesses.

In addition, many Americans who regularly attend religious services express support for instituting a variety of restrictions and modifications at their own places of worship. At the time the survey was conducted (July 13 to 19), only 13% said their house of worship should be open to the public just as it was before the outbreak.

The possibility of a referendum to give adopted children access to their birth records has been raised.

Briefing documents drawn up for Minister for Children Roderic O’Gorman reveal newly emerging cases of illegal birth registrations.

They also signal a referendum may be needed to give adopted people access to information on their birth.

Recent attempts have failed to balance the competing rights of privacy and information to allow full access to records be granted.

In 2018 it emerged that 126 births between 1946 and 1969 had been deliberately and falsely registered, with the names of the adoptive parents incorrectly recorded as the birth parents. That figure has now risen to 151.

“It is understood that there is a high likelihood that a number of High Court proceedings will be taken by individuals affected by illegal registration, and a number of cases have now been instigated,” the note says.

“The impact of being informed that they were the subject of an illegal birth registration has had a considerable impact on many individuals’ wellbeing, and the State’s duty of care should be considered in relation to any future cases. In particular, in some cases, individuals have been informed that they were the subject of an illegal birth registration, but as their birth mother does not consent to the release of her information, they can be told no more.”

Pope Francis has announced that he will begin a new series of general audience talks aimed at helping build “the future that we need.”

“In the next few weeks, I invite you to tackle together the pressing questions that the pandemic has brought to the fore, social ills above all. And we will do it in the light of the Gospel, of the theological virtues and of the principles of the church’s social doctrine,” during his weekly general audience.

“We will explore together how our Catholic social tradition can help the human family heal this world that suffers from serious illnesses,” the pope said.

Over the centuries, the church has developed many social principles “that can help us move forward in preparing the future that we need.”

He said the main principles are: the dignity of the person; the common good; the preferential option for the poor; the universal destination of goods; solidarity; subsidiarity; and care for the planet, “our common home.”

“These principles help the leaders, those responsible for society, to foster growth and also, as in the case of the pandemic, the healing of the personal and social fabric,” he said.

“It is my desire that everyone reflect and work together, as followers of Jesus who heals, to construct a better world, full of hope for future generations,” said Pope Francis.

An attack on a Catholic saint who died while ministering to lepers has been described as ‘outrageous’.

Damien of Molokai was a missionary from Belgium working in Hawaii when he volunteered to serve on a remote island for lepers in 1873, where he contracted the disease himself and died after 11 years.

He was honoured by the State of Hawaii in 1969 with a statue in Washington DC’s Capitol building.

But in an Instagram post to her 6 million followers last week, rising Democratic star, left-wing Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, called him a coloniser—and said the fact that he was honoured, instead of a woman of colour, was a sign of ‘the patriarchy’, and ‘white supremacy’.

Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop, Robert Barron, however, said the critique of Damien was “crazy”, “outrageous”, “colossally misguided”, “ridiculous” and “insulting”.

He also referenced other recent attacks on churches, statues and heroes of the Christian faith in the US, as Christian Churches are getting engulfed in the rising tide of anger from the political left.

In a response posted to Facebook, he said critiques like those of Representative Ocasio-Cortez showed the poverty of woke politics. He called their categories of judgement “simplistic” as they fail to see the moral heroism of people like St Damien of Molokai.

The new information campaign from the HSE and the Irish Pharmacy Union (IPU) says people should consider masturbating or having ‘phone sex’ or ‘internet sex’ to avoid close contact.

Called ‘Play It Safe!’, people are being informed that they should “only be sexually active with a partner living in your household”.

However, it says: “If you decide to be sexually active with someone living outside of your household, limit it to as few partners as possible, preferably one regular partner”. This contradicts social distancing guidelines.

It adds: “Consider masturbation or remote sexual activity (eg, online) as alternative to physical sexual activity with others.”

The leaflets will be available in pharmacies as part of “sexual health protection packs”, which also include a free promotional condom.

Children who grow up in households without two biological married parents experience more behavioural issues, attain less education, and have lower incomes in adulthood, but the reason why this occurs is not fully known, according to Kay Hymowitz of the Manhattan Institute.

Commenting on an article by Melanie Wasserman, “The Disparate Effects of Family Structure,” published in the spring 2020 issue of The Future of Children, Hymowitz says that, while the reasons for such outcomes remains out of reach, the most confident of Wasserman’s conclusions is that ”the absence of a biological father in the home yields especially negative consequences for boys.”

Wasserman’s study focuses on differences according to race and gender, but the evidence is inconclusive as to why boys should suffer more in some areas, like education, than girls.

Hymowitz does say these are questions that have become so politicized as to scare off a lot of potential researchers in other fields, such as, “Are there innate emotional, developmental, and/or neurological differences between the sexes that can explain why boys are more easily affected by family structure and the neighbourhoods where they live?”

The international human rights project has neglected freedom of religion, according to a leading religious freedom advocate.

Elyssa Koren, Director of UN Advocacy for ADF International, said that nobody should be persecuted because of their faith.

“Freedom of religion or belief, as recognised in the Report of the Commission on Unalienable rights, is indispensable for the integral development of the human person and the flourishing of society as a whole”.

She added: “We welcome the approach to revitalise the international human rights project that the Commission has set out in its recent report – guided by consensus but respecting national sovereignty. While we must prevent political or ideological preferences from dominating the discourse on human rights it is vital that international engagement and discussion on this topic remains”.

Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled against a proposal that could have paved the way for the decriminalisation of abortion across the country.

In a 4-1 decision handed down last week, the court’s first bench voted down a proposal to uphold a lower court decision from the state of Veracruz. The Veracruz decision ordered the state legislature to reform its criminal code and remove any penalties for abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.

Justice Norma Pina, who voted with the majority against the proposal, voiced concerns that the court could not order another branch of government – the Veracruz legislature – to take certain actions or act as lawmakers.

“The court cannot replace the legislature to order specific legislative content, because there is no constitutional mandate to legislate,” Pina said, according to the newspaper Reforma.

“The court would fall into judicial activism,” Pina added, “which would surpass its constitutional powers.”

The Mexican bishops’ conference welcomed the decision, tweeting immediately afterward: “Today in #Mexico, a culture of life triumphs, thanks to everyone and each of you who joined together to pray and raise their voices. May life live!”