A woman is taking the UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to court after an abortion provider did not inform her that a baby at 23 weeks’ gestation may feel pain and that her unborn child had a chance of surviving outside the womb at the time of her abortion.
Anna-Maria Tudor, 32, had an abortion at the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) clinic in Richmond, London and has outlined that she was never told her unborn baby might suffer during the abortion procedure.
Mrs Tudor from Newcastle told the Mail on Sunday, “I did not find out a baby at 23 weeks might be able to feel pain until afterwards. It made me feel awful and I now deeply regret my decision.
Ms Tudor has taken NICE to the High Court and is seeking a declaration that current NICE guidelines, which do not require women to be informed of the potential for foetal pain, are unlawful.
Current guidance for abortion providers relies on a 2010 review by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) that claims that the unborn baby is in an unconscious state and does not reach consciousness until birth.
But two medical researchers, including a ‘pro-choice’ British pain expert who used to think there was no chance unborn babies could feel pain before 24-weeks, say recent studies strongly suggest the assumption is incorrect.
Catholic schools that reward pupils who attend religious ceremonies are discriminating against non-Catholic pupils, the Workplace Relations Commission has ruled.
The commission decided that Yellow Furze primary school in Co Meath discriminated against an atheist pupil by giving his classmates who attended a First Communion choir ceremony homework passes. The commission awarded a sum of €5,000 in respect of discriminatory treatment and ordered the school to review its policies to ensure it complies with the provisions of the Equal Status Acts.
The mother of the child at the centre of the case said her son was upset after being “penalised” with homework for not attending the choir ceremony.
She argued that he did not have the option to take part in the ceremony as the family are atheist.
The school submitted that the claim was “wholly unfounded” and said all children – regardless of their religion – were able to participate in the ceremony.
As a Catholic school, it said it enjoyed a proud tradition of participating in religious ceremonies and that music was an integral part of this.
It added that its code of behaviour provided that all children who participate in extra-curricular activities or events on behalf of the school will receive a “reward” for their doing so.
Churches across the world are reopening or laying plans to do so, even as many Governments treat public worship as something of an afterthought.
Church-state tensions arose in Italy and Germany after both countries failed to include public worship in their initial easing of lockdown restrictions. After protests, the Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte said the Government were looking for ways of lifting the ban on Masses with “conditions of maximum security”. After similar protests by German Bishops and a ruling by the Constitutional Court, Germany allowed individual states to reopen churches for mass from May 3rd. Austria’s Chancellor Sebastian Kurz announced plans for public Masses to begin again on May 15, whilst Spain later announced that a partial reopening of churches would begin on May 11.
In the UK, meanwhile, churches were completely closed in March, after a representative of the bishops pointed out a discrepancy between the government’s social distancing measures and its policy of allowing churches to “open for solitary prayer”.
In the US, a number of states have begun to relax social distancing measures, including restrictions on churches. Montana saw Masses restart on Sunday April 26.
Churches have largely remained closed in South America. Even in Brazil, where the federal Government overruled local Government bans on church services, the Catholic bishops have been supportive of stringent public health measures.
In Africa, most countries have closed churches during the pandemic, but there remain exceptions to the continent-wide lockdown.
Elsewhere, Masses have resumed in a number of Vietnamese dioceses after the government there lifted some social distancing measures.
In Australia, Archbishop Anthony Fisher of New South Wales similarly pleaded for the government to consider a prompt “soft opening” of churches for confession and private prayer, after churches in Australia and nearby New Zealand remain closed despite the authorities in both countries having begun to ease national lockdowns.
Five years after its enactment, two key sections of the Children and Family Relationships Act have finally been commenced.
The Act was rushed through the Oireachtas in the run up to the same-sex marriage referendum in May 2015. Despite an entire section on surrogacy having been stripped out of it, it was still found to be flawed after it had become law. Unforeseen consequences and drafting errors delayed the commencement of two sections that were meant to provide a legal framework for registering the births of children who are born as a result of assisted human reproduction involving donated eggs or sperm or embryos. The commencement of these sections now means that some female same-sex couples will be legally recognised as co-parents of their children.
Specifically, it enables the birth mother and an intending parent (the mother’s spouse, civil partner or cohabitant) of a donor-conceived child – born as a result of a Donor Assisted Human Reproduction (DAHR) procedure – to register with the Registrar for Births, Deaths and Marriages, as parents. The couple can then obtain a birth certificate which reflects this. However, the DAHR procedure must have been undertaken in Ireland, and using a traceable sperm donor.
Nonetheless, campaign group Equality for Children said that the legislation is not enough.
According to the group, it leaves out children who have two male parents, a transgender parent, are born via surrogacy or reciprocal IVF, are born outside of Ireland or are conceived in an international clinic.
The legislation also leaves out children who are conceived via at-home insemination or have used an unknown donor. They say this amounts to 60% of the children of same-sex parents.
The leaders of Ireland’s main Churches have asked that the Northern Executive might reopen churches for private prayer and individual visits “sooner rather than later”.
In a joint statement, the leaders of the Church of Ireland, Methodist Church in Ireland, Roman Catholic Church, Presbyterian Church in Ireland and the Irish Council of Churches said they accept that it would not yet be appropriate to consider a full return to churches for collective worship, apart from the limited number of people who are able to meet for funeral services. “At this time, we are not calling on the Northern Ireland Executive to remove the current general restrictions on gathering together for church services, but we are asking that the issue is kept under regular review, so that when it is safe to do so there can be an easing of these restrictions”.
However, they say the issue of church buildings being permitted to open for individual visits and private prayer, where this is desired locally and can be done so safely with appropriate social distancing in place, is however a different and a separate matter. “Where the medical and scientific advice indicates that this limited step is possible, we would urge the Executive to consider easing this particular restriction sooner rather than later”.
An analysis of online posts suggests that men are more likely to regret missed sexual opportunities while women are more likely to regret engaging in sex and romantic relationships.
The new research, published in Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences, supports the theory that sexual regret functions differently in men and women due to asymmetries in parental investment. While a woman might face nine months of a metabolically-costly pregnancy after having sex, the minimal obligatory investment for a man is almost zero.
The new study consisted of two parts. In the first, the researchers analyzed 61,412 posts from Craigslist’s missed connections section, where people seek to connect with someone they saw briefly in public. In the second, the researchers collected and examined 3,500 posts from FMyLife.com’s love and intimacy sections, where people anonymously post embarrassing confessionals.
The researchers found that most of the missed connections posts were written by men. There were 42,911 men seeking-women posts but only 18,501 women-seeking-men posts. When it came to embarrassing confessionals regarding love and intimacy, however, the researchers found that women had written more posts than men.
The Scottish Parliament has introduced a bill repealing an old blasphemy law while introducing ‘anti-hate’ legislation.
Part two of the bill details prohibitions on “stirring up hatred”.
Just as the 1837 blasphemy law prohibited “composing, printing or publishing any blasphemous or seditious libel,” the new bill outlaws “displaying, publishing or distributing” anything that “stirs up hatred,” as well possessing “inflammatory material” or performing a hateful play. The prosecution would not even need to prove “intent” on the part of the accused; it would only need to prove that from their actions, hatred would be “likely to be stirred up.” As for what constitutes “stirring up hatred,” the law is short on specifics, leaving that judgment entirely to the subjective perception of a member of a victim group or some other third party.
If a minority finds something to be “abusive, threatening, or insulting,” then it is, under the law.
Two minor carve-outs are made for “freedom of expression,” which means it is permissible (within certain parameters) to criticise sexual behaviours, and “freedom of religion,” which means it is permissible to criticise religion.
The majority say their faith hasn’t changed much (47%) or that the question isn’t applicable because they were not religious to begin with (26%).
Christians are more likely than other religious groups in this analysis to say their faith has grown stronger as a result of the pandemic, a feeling that is reported by 56% of Protestants in the historically black tradition, as well as by four-in-ten evangelicals (42%) and roughly one-quarter of Catholics (27%) and mainline Protestants (22%).
Germany’s top court has overturned a blanket ban on religious services, which authorities introduced as part of restrictions to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
The constitutional court ruled on Wednesday evening that exceptions should be granted in certain cases and if sufficient precautions are taken to lower the risk of infection, as banning religious services represents a major infringement on the right to religious freedom.
The ruling comes in response to an appeal from a Muslim association in the federal state of Lower Saxony, which planned to hold Friday prayers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which started last week, under strict measures.
The association’s mosque, which has space for 300 people, wanted to allow only 24 worshippers to enter for prayers at a time, German broadcaster ARD reported. Mosque-goers would have to comply with social distancing rules and wear a mask.
The constitutional court’s ruling sets a nationwide precedent, and will apply to mosques as well as churches and synagogues.
There is “absolutely no way” Confirmations or First Holy Communions will take place in Dublin in May and June, Archbishop Diarmuid Martin has said.
“We can only begin to speak of a time frame for these sacraments when schools have been fully reopened and when it is possible once again to hold large indoor gatherings of people, especially children. This will not be the case for some months ahead,” he said.
Archbishop Martin said he was “pleased” to see that the bereaved were being offered funeral services in churches within the confines of the current pandemic restrictions.
“In many cases the funeral Mass is also being live streamed so that a wider range of relatives and friends can join, even in different parts of the world,” he said.
“Where possible people might line the streets, respecting social distancing, or stand at the doors of their houses as a local funeral passes by. This can be a much-appreciated tribute to the deceased and a comfort to the bereaved.”
Archbishop Martin and other bishops had recently been in touch with the Irish Association of Funeral Directors to remind its members that church services remain an option for the funerals of those who have died from Covid-19.
