Campaigners against a new screening process for Down Syndrome in Britain have said their warnings of increased abortions are being ignored by the government. The group, Don’t Screen Us Out, says that Non-Invasive Prenatal Testing (NIPT) will see ever more abortions as parents receive a diagnosis for Down Syndrome. Already in England and Wales, at least 92% of babies receiving this diagnosis are aborted. Don’t Screen Us Out want to delay the introduction of the test until there is a full ethical review to ensure that NIPT complies with human rights obligations. The British government is reportedly on the cusp of approving the new screening.
Colombia has ended plans for the introduction of transgender programmes in schools following massive nationwide protests. President Juan Manuel Santos announced that “neither the Ministry of Education nor the national government has implemented, has promoted, or will promote so-called gender ideology”. In an apparent attempt to limit the political fallout of the transgender programme, the President added that the booklet at the centre of the programme – produced in cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund and UNICEF – was not an official document, despite bearing the name of Colombia’s education minister, Gina Parody, and the logo of the Ministry of Education.
Humanist marriages have overtaken Church of Scotland and Catholic weddings for the first time. According to figures issued by the National Records of Scotland, while there were 4,290 Humanist wedding ceremonies conducted in 2015, the Church of Scotland presided over 4,052 weddings, and the Catholic Church 1,438. The figures further confirmed the steady decline in Church of Scotland weddings over the past decade. In 2005, when Humanist weddings were first permitted, the Church of Scotland conducted 8,686 weddin
Catholic prelates in Malta have warned against the island nation accepting euthanasia. In a pastoral letter penned in response to a pro-euthanasia petition, Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Gozo Bishop Mario Grech denounced euthanasia as part of the “throwaway culture”, one in which society “kills unborn babies, abandons the old, forsakes people with disabilities, values people according to their potential contribution to the economy and their consumption, and is unjust to the poor”. The petition in Malta to legalise euthanasia has more than 1,300 signatures so far online.
Legal arguments have begun in a multi-state case against the Obama administration’s transgender toilet policy for schools. In a case led by Texas state Governor Ken Paxton, 13 states are asking a court to rule against the policy. The case opened before District Court judge Reed O’Connor in Forth Worth, Texas, on August 12, with Governor Paxton arguing that the administration was forcing “radical change” on America with the toilet policy.
India’s Supreme Court has ordered authorities to reopen investigations into alleged perpetrators behind a major anti-Christian pogrom in 2008. Ruling that the original acquittals “were not justified”, the court ordered a re-examination of some 827 cases linked to the outbreak of violence which saw 100 Christians killed in addition to the destruction of hundreds of churches and 6,000 homes belonging to Christians in the state of Orissa (now renamed Odisha). The court further ruled that compensation paid to Christian victims had been woefully inadequate and ordered increased payments to families of those killed in the pogrom.
A new study shows that a ‘marriage gap’ between upper and lower income groups exists across Europe and is worst in Scandinavia. A recent Iona Institute report shows that a large marriage gap also exists in Ireland. Compiled by the Marriage Foundation, the new study revealed that in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark an average of 30% of low income parents are married compared to the continental average of 43%. Mediterranean countries showed higher rates, with an average 53% of low income parents being married. In contrast, 75% of high income Scandinavians are married while the figure in Mediterranean countries is 87%. Harry Benson of Marriage Foundation said: “This research shows for the first time that the problem of the marriage gap – where the wealthy perpetuate their wealth and advantage by getting married, while the poorest suffer greater instability by not – is manifest across Europe.”
