News Roundup

European women having fewer children – study

Women in Europe are having fewer children, with the trend particularly notable in the southern part of the continent, a new study has shown. Conducted by France’s National Institute of Demographic Studies, the research found that more than a fifth of women born in southern Europe in the 1970s may remain childless, compared to an average of 15% in northern Europe and 18% in western Europe. The report tracks a combination of factors to explain a trend not seen since the early years of the 20th Century, when World War I and the Great Depression had devastating impacts on demographics. “Most of the economic and cultural trends of the last half-century appear to have steered women and men away from having children,” the report states, adding that very few women plan never to have children, rather most end up “perpetually postponing parenthood” until it is too late. Reliable contraception, delayed union formation and childbearing, greater family fragility, demanding careers and job instability, as well as general economic uncertainty, are likely to foster childlessness,” the report concludes.

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Integration chief equates Catholic teaching on marriage with Islamic extremism

Britain’s civil servant tasked with integration issues has likened Catholic teaching on traditional marriage to Islamic extremism that has been exposed in schools in Birmingham. During a sitting of the Communities and Local Government Committee, at which Dame Louise Casey answered questions on her report into the so-called ‘Trojan Horse’ schools affair, she said the issues uncovered about extremism were “not okay, in the same way that it is not okay for Catholic schools to be homophobic and anti-gay marriage. That is not okay either — it is not how we bring children up in this country”. Dame Louise went on to allege that opponents of same-sex marriage using religion to cover their anti-equality views. “It is often veiled as religious conservatism, and I have a problem with the expression ‘religious conservatism’, because often it can be anti-equalities,” she said.

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Academic advantages of faith schools may be exaggerated – study

The academic advantages of faith schools may be exaggerated, a new study in Britain has claimed. Undertaken by the Education Policy Institute, the study examined the characteristics of pupils attending faith schools, how socially selective faith schools may be, and pupil attainment. It found that disadvantaged pupils are under-represented at faith schools, while those with high prior attainment are over-represented. The researchers were thus prompted to seek a control group in non-faith schools with similar characteristics to those in faith schools, finding that the difference in attainment is largely eliminated once pupil characteristics are accounted for in this way. The study comes at a time when the British government is proposing to increase good school places which includes a proposal to remove the 50% cap on faith-based admissions for oversubscribed faith free schools.

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Kentucky joins states banning abortion after 20 weeks

The US state of Kentucky has signed into law two pro-life bills which had been fast-tracked by the state Senate to Governor Matt Bevin for signing. The laws – the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act and the Ultrasound Informed Consent Act –  ban abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy and require that women receive an ultrasound and the opportunity to see it before the final decision to have an abortion. “It is an honour for me to sign into law these historic pieces of legislation that protect our most vulnerable,” Governor Bevin said. The new laws come after years of legislators attempting and failing to get such protections past a Democrat-dominated House of Representatives in Kentucky. The year 2017 is the first time Republicans have controlled the House since 1921. With the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, Kentucky becomes the 16th state to enact such a control on abortion.

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New UK guidelines could force Christian pharmacists to operate against conscience

Christian pharmacists in Britain could be forced to provide services which are against their conscience, under newly proposed guidelines. The General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) is currently engaged in a consultation process on revising its own guidance to pharmacists which, if approved, would insist that staff “take responsibility for ensuring that person-centred care is not compromised because of personal values and beliefs”, while weakening the right of referral to another pharmacist. It adds that in some cases, a pharmacist’s beliefs could render them “unable to take up certain working roles”. This could see Christian pharmacists being forced to provide access to abortifacient drugs, such as the morning after pill. Similar guidelines already exist in Ireland.

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Video exposes Marie Stopes abortion activities in Africa

British taxpayers’ money is being used to fund abortion provision in African countries where the procedure is illegal, a leading pro-life advocate has said. Culture of Life Africa has produced a new video in which it exposes the activities of Marie Stopes International (MSI) in a number of African countries where the group offers ‘reproductive health services’. The video speaks to one nurse, Desire Kirabo, who worked as an MSI centre manager in Uganda, where abortion is illegal. She explains how she began working there thinking it was a family planning organisation but in reality was providing abortions. “[B]ut they disguised that,” she states. It became apparent to her that “it was all about abortion”. The video also contains disturbing claims about the later disposal of aborted bodies.

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Citizens’ Assembly leans towards repealing Eighth Amendment

The Citizens’ Assembly tasked with discussing the future of the constitutional protection for the unborn is reportedly leaning towards ending that protection. Following the latest gathering of the 99 members under the chairmanship of Judge Mary Laffoy, the clearest indication yet of attitudes to the Eighth Amendment was gained from a number of questions posed to groups. One, on whether “the right to life of the unborn child should continue to be constitutionally protected in the same way as now”, drew “no” from 10 of 14 table groupings, with a further 2 stating “yes”, although under a more liberal abortion regime. The remaining two did not express clear opinions on the issue. When asked if “abortion should be lawfully available in Ireland in more circumstances than is currently the case”, nine of the 14 tables responded “yes”. Of the five that gave no explicit response, two expressed opinions that suggested they were leaning towards “yes”.
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Just 1% of UK trainee doctors opting for abortion training

Just 1% of trainee obstetricians and gynaecologists in Britain are opting to train for abortion procedures, it has been revealed. In a piece for the Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care, its editor, Dr Sandy Goldbeck-Wood, predicts a “crisis” in the lack of suitably qualified doctors able or willing to undertake abortion provision. However, John Smeaton, chief executive of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), said of the revelation: “Might not this extraordinarily low percentage reflect a natural human reluctance amongst trainee obstetricians and gynaecologists to kill babies in the womb?”
Meanwhile, Deputy Director for Public Affairs at The Christian Institute, Simon Calvert, said: “The fact that only 1% of trainee obstetricians and gynaecologists are taking higher training in abortion is not a ‘crisis’ for medicine, but it may reflect the crisis of conscience that many medics feel about abortion. The more we develop treatments for unborn babies, the more people realise how indefensible abortion is.”
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Dáil to debate motion condemning Christian persecution

The Dáil is set to debate a full motion condemning the persecution of Christians in the Middle East. According to The Irish Catholic newspaper, a draft motion is currently being drawn up for circulation to all parties in an attempt to gain all-party support for a condemnation of the ongoing suffering endured by Christian communities. It is hoped the motion will be tabled for a full debate by the end of January.  “This is a matter of grave concern and we want to work with other parties so that the Dáil can speak with one voice in condemning the persecution of Christians in the Middle East,” said Fianna Fáil’s spokesperson on Foreign Affairs and Trade, Darragh O’Brien, who is responsible for the motion. He added that he and party colleagues are “very conscious that other nations such as the United States, Britain, and the European Union” have already adopted resolutions and motions condemning the genocide and continued suffering of Christians at the hands of religious extremists. “That makes it all the more urgent that we do this too,” he said.

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UK Students’ Union pushes for end to ‘he’ and ‘she’ on campus

A Students’ Union in England is discouraging the use of ‘he’ or ‘she’ on campus in a newly issued policy. The University of Sussex Students’ Union (USSU) is calling for the use of ‘they’ in place of gender-specific pronouns where individuals have not already stated their preferred pronoun. In addition, the new policy insists that pronouns should be “stated at the beginning of every meeting, even if they have been stated at previous meetings”. The union has stated that training for elected union officers on the USSU policy will be developed with a group that “seeks to free individuals and society from the oppressive confines of the gender binary”. The group in question is understood to be ‘Gender Liberation Sussex’, which believes that distinguishing between the sexes on a biological basis is harmful “and should be dismantled”.

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