LifeZine No. 478: 5th Apr 07
Family & Life Extends a ‘Happy Easter’ to ‘LifeZine’ Readers
Welcome to this Easter edition of “LifeZine”. The Directors, Staff and Volunteers of Family & Life would like to extend warm greetings to you and your loved ones this Easter Season. For those of you who are new readers, “LifeZine” replaced “Irish Pro-Life News". “LifeZine” is published bi-weekly. We welcome all comments and suggestions. Please ask friends and/or family to register by sending them the following link: www.familyandlife.org/ezine-order.php Details: CLICK TO READ MORE.....
ECHR Ruling in Polish Abortion Case ‘Contradicts’ Ireland’s Values Regarding Human Dignity
William Binchy, Regius Professor of Laws at Trinity College Dublin, writing in “The Irish Times”, was critical of the recent decision of the Chamber Court of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in “Tysiac v Poland”. He said the decision is a “source of concern to those who would wish the court to give full protection to the human rights of human beings at all stages in their lives”. What are the implications for Ireland? he asked. The decision in “Tysiac v Poland” has made the mistake of ignoring the unborn child, he pointed out. He continued: “Irish people should not be obliged to have forced on them a law that contradicts their values regarding human dignity and equal worth by a court which operates politically on a pan-European stage. We should be entitled to insist that our legal culture respects the unique value of every human life, with the practical implications that this involves for our social and economic policies, so that a genuinely caring society of solidarity and support is achieved.” Details: CLICK TO READ MORE.....
Raising Ethos of School Could Cut Teen Pregnancies—UK Research
Improving the ethos of a school and raising pupils' self-esteem could help reduce the number of teenage pregnancies, according to a report in the “British Medical Journal”. Researchers at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine cited trials in the US and Australia that show that such measures reduce “risky behaviours”. According to research, "Young women who feel supported by their schools and confident about their future careers are less likely to view early parenthood as a way of finding meaning and gaining respect from their peers and communities." The Guardian. CLICK TO READ MORE.....
Christian Youth Abstinence Programme Launched in Norwich
An initiative with a group of 14 to 16-year-olds has been launched in Norwich, UK, to try to stem the rising number of teenage pregnancies. Romance Academy, inspired by the BBC2 series No Sex Please, We're Teenagers, challenges the participants to abstain throughout the 15-week course. At the weekly meetings they will focus on various topics, including building and sustaining healthy relationships and self-image. "There's a lot of media pressure on teenagers to have sex and it's easy to lose the whole relationship side of things", said Mr David Lanchester, one of the two Christian youth workers who will run the course, which is organised by Pregnancy Crisis Norfolk. “We believe it is an exciting opportunity positively to influence the lives of young people by challenging them to question the messages that society throws at them and helping them realise their value and worth.” Christian Today. CLICK TO READ MORE.....
Thousands March in Support of Polish Constitutional Amendment Protecting Unborn
Polish citizens turned out in a massive show of support for a proposed constitutional amendment to protect the unborn from the moment of conception. As many as 20,000 people joined in a March for Life in Warsaw last week. Two proposals have been put forward to amend the Polish constitution to ban all abortions. Introduced by the League of Polish Families, the first proposal would explicitly provide constitutional protection for life “from conception to natural death”. The second proposal, authored by President Lech Kaczynski, is a weaker version of the first proposal in that it promises to protect life from conception by adding a constitutional amendment, but it would however retain the current abortion laws. His proposal however, might make it more difficult for pro-abortion advocates in the future to successfully attempt to weaken the current laws. At present Poland permits abortion for severe foetal anomaly, in cases of rape or incest, or to save the life of the mother. A vote on the proposed amendments will be held in Parliament on April 12-13. LifeSiteNews.com. CLICK TO READ MORE.....
Catholic Church Asks UN for Medical Conscience Clause on Abortion
The Catholic Church is asking the United Nations to protect the conscience rights of doctors and other medical personnel who don't want to participate in abortions. The Pontifical Academy for Life said the UN should "complete" its protection of all human rights with a statement that would “guarantee the right to be a conscientious objector and to defend this right against discrimination in the field of work, education and government benefits”. The call was made as a result of increased pressure on doctors and medical personnel to participate in abortion, euthanasia and embryo research. The Academy asked that doctors be allowed to act "in faithful obedience to the judgements of the[ir] own moral conscience".
TLifeNews.com. CLICK TO READ MORE.....