News Roundup

Parents of aborted baby claim hospital dismissed their concerns

The parents of the misdiagnosed unborn child that was aborted at the National Maternity Hospital at Holles Street in March say they were told there was no point waiting for a second test result before proceeding with an abortion. The baby was thought at first to have Edward’s Syndrome. Most babies with the conditions live only a few days after birth.

The couple say the hospital told them that the matter was “black and white”, there was “no hope”, the initial test was “conclusive” and the next stage of testing “would make no difference”.

The mother raised specific concerns about the possibility of mosaicism, the cause of false-positives, but says her concerns were dismissed.

The couple say they were “actively” told not to wait for the second part of the CVS test and that there was no need for amniocentesis which tests cells directly from the foetus, rather than the placenta.

Meanwhile, the Irish Times reports the National Maternity Hospital says it follows standard practice in carrying out abortions where requested by parents following a single diagnostic test showing a fatal foetal anomaly. However, the paper notes, UK and international guidelines suggest confirmatory second-test results should first be obtained.

The parents of the aborted child said procedures followed by the hospital do not accord with those followed in the Rotunda and the Coombe in relation to awaiting the results of a second test.

It has emerged also that another woman received a false-positive that incorrectly diagnosed her unborn child with the same foetal anomaly as the Holles street baby.

After a non-invasive prenatal test (NIPT) in March of this year indicated her baby was at risk of trisomy 18, Kerry Fonseca, of Balgriffin, north Dublin, went for a chorionic villus sampling (CVS) diagnostic test in the Rotunda Hospital in Dublin and it came back positive for Edward’s Syndrome. However, she opted to have an amniocentesis three weeks later and it came back clear. [3]

The CVS test which also produced the false positive in the Holles Street case is alleged to produce an incorrect result in only 0.15% of cases.

Read more...

COI Synod calls on Government to highlight persecution of Christians

The Church of Ireland passed a motion calling on the Department of Foreign Affairs to place the persecution of Christians on a par with all other human rights issues at its General Synod in Derry last Thursday.

Supporting the motion, Derek Neilson (Glendalough) said “if this General Synod is going to highlight persecution and to make a real stand, then we must start that somewhere and this motion seeks to do that in asking that concrete action be taken to support persecuted Christians around the world”.

Geoffrey McMaster (Glendalough) cited a recent article that said governments were slow to react to the persecution of Christians and churches were slow to let their people know of this persecution. He said the church had to show leadership.

The Revd Criag McAuley (Kilmore) referenced the Easter Morning, suicide bombings in Sri Lanka. He said his mood changed from sadness to anger at the thought that Christians and holiday makers were killed for celebrating the risen Christ. He was angry at the media and politicians, as there was no like for like response between the lack of reaction to Sri Lanka and the huge response to the shootings in Christ Church. He said that they had failed Christians. He said it was a disgrace that so many politicians did not acknowledge that it was Christians who were killed. He said that many were persecuted for their faith and the church had to say they stand alongside them where the politicians and media fail them.

Read more...

COI Synod report calls for refocus on marriage in response to growing family breakdown

The rise in marriage and family breakdown has prompted a call on the Church of Ireland to refocus its mission on the biblical values of marital indissolubility.

The call was made in a report by the chairperson of the Church’s Marriage Council, the Revd Jonathan Campbell–Smyth, at the COI’s General Synod in Derry last week.

He said that the rate of marriage in the UK and Ireland had reduced significantly over the previous fifty years, while the rate of divorce increased dramatically in the UK. He said it was a “startling statistic” that in 2017, 42% of marriages in England and Wales ended in divorce, and added, whilst this is out of the COI’s jurisdiction, it gives an unhealthy picture into the future.

He said this called for the Church to refocus its support and mission in favour of the indissolubility of marriage even as society considers such values to be outdated.

He added that marriage breakup has a dramatic impact on children, and suggested that different bodies within the Church work closely “to ensure children of divorced couples or those witnessing frightening disruption within the family home are supported properly by the Church”.

In the written report, the Council noted that Tusla’s financial support of marriage counselling had been reduced from a one time high of €40,000 to just €5,000 last year.

Read more...

Unborn child mistakenly diagnosed with fatal abnormality was aborted

An unborn child has been aborted after screenings incorrectly indicated it was suffering from a fatal abnormality, in this case Edward’s Syndrome. Pro-life groups have said what happened is a result of the new abortion law.

The result of one final screening, which was not returned until after the abortion was completed showed that the child did not have the indicated abnormality and had been in good health.

The abortion was conducted at the National Maternity hospital in Holles street at 15 weeks into the pregnancy under the section of the abortion law that allows abortions where the child is expected to die before or shortly after birth.

The parents of the child are said to be ‘devastated’ and have made a complaint to both the hospital and the Minister for Health, Simon Harris.

In a statement, Holles Street said it does not comment on individual cases, but it confirmed that it has asked the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to review a recent case at the hospital, although the Royal College later told RTE news that it had not not received a formal approach to undertake a review.

Read more...

20pc increase in low weight births due to IVF

A jump of 20pc in the number of low weight births in Ireland is mainly due to the use of IVF. That’s according to obstetrician Michael Turner, director of the UCD Centre for Human Reproduction at the Coombe Hospital.

While low weight births are decreasing across the world, a study just published in the Lancet shows Ireland has had a 20% increase since the year 2000, which is the second highest increase among higher income countries.

The increase comes despite a worldwide commitment to reduce such births by 30pc by the year 2025.

Professor Turner attributes the Irish increase to a 30pc rise in the birth of twins and triplets from IVF.

Read more...

HSE says aborted remains “can be flushed down the toilet”

Pro-life groups say the HSE’s advice on disposing the remains of aborted babies is “deeply disturbing”.

The HSE website tells women who have had an abortion before 9 weeks of pregnancy that the remains “can be flushed down the toilet”, or wrapped in tissue and disposed of as they wish.

Niamh Uí Bhriain of the Life Institute said the HSE’s advice exposed the cruel indifference of Simon Harris’s abortion regime.

She added that the HSE’s advice is particularly appalling given the two years of fraught discussion about the possibility that babies were buried in a septic tank.

Read more...

Increase dialogue with religious organisations, says MEP Mairead McGuinness

There should be increased dialogue between religious organisations and MEPs dealing with legislation proposed by the European Commission.

That’s according to a leaked report compiled by Fine Gael MEP and vice-president of the European Parliament Mairéad McGuinness.

“This would allow for individual partners to flag up dossiers where they feel they could make a particular contribution. The religious representatives expressed the view that such consultations would help ensure that policy considerations were not limited to narrow sectoral interests, but also took account of broader societal implications of policy and legislation and the need for the legislator to seek the common good,” the report states.

Ms McGuinness, who is vice-president of the European Parliament, insisted that the proposed changes would apply to “all stakeholders” and are “not limited to any one group, so there would not be different levels of access for churches compared to secular groups”.

However, MEPs who are part of the European Parliament Platform for Secularism in Politics expressed “deep concerns”, saying the report appears “to endorse” the views of the churches. Saying that the recommendations would be “a severe violation” of the principle of separation between religions and politics, if implemented, French MEP Virginie Rozière told OpenDemocracy that they are “completely crazy”.

Read more...

Greater parental involvement needed in sacramental preparation, says Dublin Archdiocese

A greater involvement of parishes and parents in preparing children for the sacraments has been expressed by a Sacraments Review Group in the Archdiocese of Dublin.

The Review Group carried out an online survey, with 1800 responses from parents, parishioners, clergy and parish workers, school principals and teachers.

According to a spokesperson for the Archdiocese all the voices in the survey said passing on the faith is primarily the responsibility of the home, with the help of the parish, rather than a total reliance on the school.

This would entail a significant shift of focus, from the current set-up where schools engage with children to a new set-up where parishes engage with parents.

The survey highlights the challenge of engaging with parents with different levels of faith: those who are churchgoers, others who are not churchgoers but profess to have faith, others again who see the sacraments as family milestones with no faith dimension.

Read more...

Asia Bibi’s cell now holds another Christian woman on death row for blasphemy

While Asia Bibi is free, another Christian woman faces the same fate as her, sentenced to death for alleged blasaphemy.

Bibi’s lawyer, Saif-ul Malook, has taken up the case of Shagufta Kausar, a 45-year-old mother of four, and her husband.

Kausar is locked in the same prison cell in Multan Women’s Jail where Bibi had been incarcerated for many years. Kausar and her husband Shafqat Masih, 48, were condemned to death by a trial court in February 2014. Muhammad Hussein, a prayer leader at a local mosque, accused Masih of texting blasphemous text messages from Kausar’s cell phone with her “connivance.”

The people of the area surrounded the Gojra Police Station after Kausar and Masih were arrested. The mob demanded that the couple be handed to them so that they could be killed. The police resorted to including the harshest charges in order to disperse the protestors.

The Christian couple hails from the infamous town of Gojra, where in 2009 more than 100 houses were set on fire and 7 Christians killed by a violent mob over blasphemy allegations. Since then, tensions between Christians and Muslims have regularly flared.

Read more...

EPP highlights Europe’s Christian heritage in election manifesto

The European People’s Party (EPP) has included in its European election manifesto a staunch defence of the continent’s Christian values and heritage saying we must preserve our “Christian values and fundamental principles”.

The text reads: “While Europe is diverse and nuanced, we have one thing in common: in every town and city there is a Christian church. Christmas, Easter and Pentecost are holidays we all share. We have to protect our European way of life by preserving our Christian values and fundamental principles.”

The EPP is the largest party in the European Parliament since 1999 and it is the grouping that Fine Gael belong to. Fine Gael’s election manifesto makes no mention of Christianity.

Read more...