The Catholic Bishops of Northern Ireland have told Catholic voters ahead of the Assembly Election there that “the social and moral teaching of the Church is clear, that it is never morally acceptable to support any policy that undermines the sacred inviolability of the right to life of an innocent person in any circumstances”. They make the comment in a Pastoral Reflection on the forthcoming elections. The document offers 10 questions “which Catholics are encouraged to ask candidates who are standing in the Assembly elections”.
Lord David Steel, the British former MP who introduced the Abortion Act in 1967 has described Northern Ireland’s ongoing protection of the unborn as “simply ridiculous”. The peer was speaking during an interview to mark the 48th anniversary of the Abortion Act. Criticising Northern Ireland politicians for what he claimed is discrimination against women, Lord Steel said: “I think they’ve got to face up to the fact the law in Northern Ireland is simply ridiculous…It is time they came up at least to 1967, if not to 2016.” When David Steele introduced his Bill in 1967 he admitted later he never anticipated it would pave the way to almost 200,000 abortions in the UK each year.
A same-sex couple has been granted guardianship of a daughter born to one of them, effectively offering legal recognition to the unit as a family. Marie Cloke-Hayes gave birth to a daughter in 2012 in a pregnancy made possible by sperm donation. Now, a judge at Ennis Courthouse has used provisions of the the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 to extend guardianship rights to Marie’s wedded partner, Angela.
A majority of Americans believe transgender people should use the toilet facility corresponding with their biological sex and not their chosen gender identity. The finding has come from a new poll conducted by Reuters which showed that 45% of people hold the belief, against 40.9% who would allow for gender choice. The results also showed a decrease in support for gender choice over facilities from a previous poll two weeks previously.
Members of the European Parliament are calling on the legislative body to counteract what they say is a deterioration of freedom of conscience on the continent. Parliamentarians from four political groups have signed the ‘Declaration on the Importance of Strengthening the Fundamental Right of Freedom of Conscience’ which calls for “robust protection of freedom of conscience”. The religious freedom lobby group ADF International described the declaration as “a wake-up call” for the EU.
