In the run up to the UK’s General Election, a number of bishops have urged voters to consider abortion, euthanasia and other life issues as they head to the polls. Bishop Philip Egan of Portsmouth listed ten questions that Catholic voters should ask of a candidate. “First, and foremost, how far will this or that candidate protect the sacred dignity of each human life from conception to natural death, opposing moves to liberalise the abortion laws, to extend embryo experimentation and to legalise assisted suicide and euthanasia?” In Scotland, the Bishops conference released a letter that said “Any laws which permit the wilful ending of life must always be rejected as reprehensible and unjust,” and they urged Catholic voters, to “remind our politicians that abortion, assisted suicide and euthanasia are always morally unacceptable.”

A printer who declined to make shirts for a US gay pride event because it would have violated his conscience has won his court case. Blaine Adamson was sued after turning down the order because it promoted a message that conflicted with “sincerely held religious beliefs”. On Friday, an appeals court in Kentucky found in favour of the Christian designer with one judge saying there was no evidence Adamson had turned down any work because of a customer’s sexual orientation.

A Bill tabled by left-wing TD, Ruth Coppinger, would “destroy denominational education” by stripping faith schools of their right to teach religion in their own way, to have a religious ethos and to admit children of their own faith communities first, the Iona Institute has said in a statement yesterday. Meanwhile, Education Minister, Richard Bruton has rejected the Bill saying that it would be discriminatory against children from minority religions. As written, he said, the legislation would “put a red line through schools” such as Educate Together or Gaelscoileanna. The Bill would amend the Education Act to delete the reference to the “characteristic spirit” of a school and replace it with “constitutional and human rights of all persons concerned”. Addressing the author of the bill, Deputy Ruth Coppinger, the Minister said, “You say your Bill will protect minority religions. I say the opposite. If you want your child raised in the ethos of your religion you can’t do that under this Bill.”

Research published in the British Medical Journal has claimed that Abortion pills bought online can be a safe “alternative” to travelling for abortion. Such pills can be used to induce abortion up to 10 weeks of pregnancy. However, the study was based on a non-random sample and on self-reporting by respondents. The main authors are involved in the distribution of the online pills. While the importing of abortion pills is strictly speaking illegal, the organisation behind the study claim they have sold the pills, mifepristone and misoprostol, to 1,636 women on the island of Ireland during the two years. In a follow-up survey, to which over 1000 women responded, “ 94.7 per cent reported successfully ending their pregnancy without surgical intervention. Seven women (0.7 per cent) reported receiving a blood transfusion and 26 (2.6 per cent) reported receiving antibiotics. No deaths . . . were reported by family, friends, the authorities or the media.” Ninety-three reported experiencing symptoms for which they were advised to seek medical attention, of whom 87 did seek attention. Of the five who did not report, none reported any adverse outcome.

The rapid decline in churchgoers in the UK may be slowing thanks to a rise in patriotism and pride in Christianity, a new report is suggesting. The trend appeared in an analysis of two major surveys of British attitudes by a Professor of theology and the sociology of religion at St Mary’s University, Twickenham. Professor Stephen Bullivary told the Telegraph, “People see Christianity as an expression of Englishness. There has been more rhetoric around Britain being a Christian nation. People are looking for ways to connect with others. I suspect a larger proportion of people who do say they are Anglican tend to be patriotic”. In the period from 2009, the proportion of non-religious people has declined by 2% whereas those who self-describe as Anglican has increased by almost 1%. Professor Bullivary commented, “[a]fter decades of bad news, this is certainly welcome for the Church of England. If I was in the Anglican Church I would be celebrating this.”

Archbishop William Lori has offered a cautious welcome to President Trump’s executive order on religious liberty. The order was designed to protect religious organisations from being forced into actions that would compromise their ethos. Specifically, it should help them from having to comply with a healthcare mandate that they must buy “health” insurance for their employees that includes contraceptive and abortifacient coverage. Speaking to Crux, he said “this looks like a good development, we’re glad to see it, especially those parts that promise us some relief from the contraception mandate in the Affordable Care Act”. However, he added a note of caution: “First, the devil is in the details, so let’s see how it works out. Secondly, while this is welcome, there are still a lot of other challenges, even at the federal level, that lay before us.” Specifically, on the controversial mandate, he said: “Maybe we can get ‘preventive services’ redefined, so they really do pertain to preventing diseases and not to inducing abortions or preventing birth.”

A case has been filed with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against the banning of an ad in France featuring Down Syndrome children. The ad is called “Dear Future Mom”. In it, various children with Down Syndrome reassure pregnant mothers carrying a Down Syndrome child of their capacity for happiness, their abilities, and their love for their parents. The ad was ruled by a French court to be “inappropriate” and would “unsettle” those who had had abortions. The French court, called the ‘Council of State’ ruled that the short film could ‘disturb the conscience of women who, in accordance with the law, have made personal life choices’.

The case was filed by the Jérôme Lejeune Foundation, with the help of the European Centre for Law and Justice, who said the ban went against commitments France made to integrate the weakest of its members. “To people with Down syndrome, it has meant that their visibility, their very existence, pose a problem to society”, they said in a press release. “In addition to the infringement on their freedom of expression, these children have also been manifestly discriminated against because of their genomes.”

The United Nations celebrates the International Day of Families today. The intention of the Day is highlight the important role family plays as the fundamental building unit of society, instead, according to Paul Coleman of Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), “we are increasingly witnessing international institutions, governments, and courts undermining the family rather than protecting it.” He cites the example of a German family whose home-schooled children were snatched from them by police and social workers in order to enforce a 1918 law prohibiting such education. While the children have since been returned, the European Court of Human Rights has agreed to review whether Germany’s actions breached the right to family life. “The International Day of Families is a good occasion to draw attention to the importance of the family, and the need to safeguard family rights worldwide. Let us not forget that in a free society, parents raise children, not the government,” added Coleman.