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.”
Thousands of people have marched in Colombia against plans to introduce gender ideology programmes in schools. Protestors called for the resignation of Education Minister Gina Parody, who earlier ordered schools to amend student manuals to better accommodate gay and transgender students. In addition, in recent weeks the nation’s Constitutional Court has ruled twice that transgender students in two schools must be allowed to wear the clothing of their preferred gender. The nationwide protests were organised by the Standard Bearers of the Family group which was backed in its action by the country’s Catholic bishops as well as Evangelical leaders. “We reject the implementation of gender ideology in the education system in Colombia, because it is a destructive ideology, it destroys the human person,” said the Cardinal Archbishop of Bogotá, Rubén Salazar Gómez.
The One More Day group which supports parents who receive a difficult pre-natal prognosis for their baby has welcomed the use of the term ‘life-limiting condition’ in new HSE guidelines for medical staff. Responding to the launch of ‘Standards for Bereavement Care Following Pregnancy Loss and Perinatal Death’, Jennifer Kehoe of One More Day said: “We welcome the launch of the new guidelines today and the holistic and humane approach to care that is evident in them. It is appropriate that the guidelines use the term ‘life-limiting condition’ when describing situations where a baby is given a poor prenatal diagnosis rather than terms that devalue and undermine babies in these situations.” Ms Kehoe further welcomed the fact that the new guidelines also draw attention to research showing that women who opt for termination of pregnancy, for whatever reason, “experience more intense emotional distress” in both the short and long term.
A women’s rights group has filed a complaint with the United Nations after it was revealed that forced abortions still continue as a practice despite the end of the One-Child Policy. According to Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, under the official new Two-Child Policy, Family Planning Police continue to screen women of child-bearing age for pregnancy four times a year. It is still illegal for single women to have babies in China, and for couples to have three children. It appears that some may be given an opportunity to pay a fine, but if a woman is illegally pregnant and cannot pay the fine – which can be as much as ten times her annual salary – she is forced to abort. Reggie Littlejohn, President of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers said: “Sending out the message that China has ‘abandoned’ its one-child policy is detrimental to sincere efforts to stop forced abortion and gendercide in China, because this message implies that the one-child policy is no longer a problem.”
The American College of Paediatricians (ACP) has called for an end to the normalising of transgenderism (gender dysphoria), arguing that it is leading to the “criminal” harming of children. In a statement, the College points to the risks posed by intrusive medical intervention, criticising the prevalence of these treatments despite lack of scientific and medical evidence, while research shows that the majority of dysphoria cases resolve themselves.The ACPs Dr Michelle Cretella says: “We live at a time in which social agendas often bias the results of research and lead to the development of false medical standards. Those who honourably speak out against this are chastised. Young children are being permanently sterilised and surgically maimed under the guise of treating a condition that would otherwise resolve in over 80% of them. This is criminal.”
Abortion in the United States now the leading cause of death, outstripping cancer and heart disease, researchers have revealed. In a paper, ‘Induced Abortion, Mortality, and the Conduct of Science’, published in the Open Journal of Preventive Medicine, researchers compiled figures on abortion nationwide for 2009 to reveal that while deaths from heart disease amounted to 599,413 and cancers 567, 628, the 1,152,000 abortions in that year almost match the other causes combined, making it the lead cause of death and, across all mortality figures for that year, 32.1% of the total.
Women with terminally ill unborn babies are to receive HSE counselling post-abortion under newly updated guidelines for health workers. It is understood that the guidelines will offer instructions on how best to deal with parents who suffer a loss, regardless of regardless of whether the mother carried the child to full-term or travelled abroad for an abortion. Given that the new guidelines use the term ‘fatal foetal anomaly’, the move is sure to be viewed by pro-life advocates as a worrying development at a time when there is a call for the repeal of the Eighth Amendment constitutional protection for the unborn.
