LifeZine No. 503: 24th Jul 07
Family & Life Events Section
If you know of a relevant upcoming event that you would like to see posted on the Family & Life website, we would be glad to hear from you. Please contact us at: fandl@iol.ie
Details: CLICK TO READ MORE.....
Hugely Successful 'Celebrate Life' Rally in Dublin
Thousands of people participated in the recent Irish pro-life rally, called “Celebrate Life”. Starting off from the General Post Office, on Dublin's main street, it had heads turning as the colour and the enthusiasm of the participants grabbed the attention of thousands of Dublin shoppers on a busy Saturday afternoon in Ireland's capital. There was an almost carnival atmosphere as the marchers turned into Molesworth Street leading to Dáil Éireann (the Irish Parliament). The rally was headed up with a banner, held by a number of young women, calling on the Irish Government to keep their pre-election pro-life promise not to legislate for abortion or allow for embryo research. "The turnout was far beyond expectations”, said a pro-life spokesman. Fr. Brian Mc Kevitt O.P., editor of the “Alive” family newspaper, said, "Though this rally has given a huge boost to the pro-life cause in Ireland, we cannot become complacent. We need to continue to pray and act to make sure Ireland remains abortion free.” Details: CLICK TO READ MORE.....
British Pro-Life Advocates Say Doctors Ignore How Abortion Hurts Women
The British Medical Association (BMA) recently voted that only one doctor, rather than the present two, should be necessary to authorise an abortion. The BMA also voted in favour of allowing nurses to distribute the dangerous abortion drug RU 486. The votes came after new figures showed a record number of abortions in the UK. Pro-life advocates accused the BMA of ignoring how abortion hurts women. Julia Millington of the Pro-life Alliance says British doctors need to understand the devastating impact abortion has on women. “We would like to see the medical profession giving greater consideration, not to the politics of abortion, but to the medical and psychological impact on women", she said. "We should be asking why so many women are having abortions and offering real alternatives to women in crisis pregnancy situations so that no woman feels that abortion is her only choice", Millington added. LifeNews.com. CLICK TO READ MORE.....
What They Don’t Tell You at the Abortion Clinic
Melanie McDonagh, writing in “The Times” newspaper, said, “Some backbench Bills are destined for stillbirth, and Ann Winterton’s recent Bill was one of them. It would have compelled women who wanted an abortion to have counselling and to be given information about the possible effects. Pity. There was a useful point of principle there. It is that abortion has its own costs, not all of which are obvious, but which you jolly well ought to know about before you have one. You can take what view you like of the main effect, namely, that at the end of an abortion, you’re minus one human ‘foetus’. But there are other implications, apart from the predictable risk of depression. A couple of weeks ago I went to a lecture by a specialist in high-risk obstetrics, Byron Colhoun, the joint head of the department of obstetrics and gynaecology at West Virginia University. What he demonstrated was deadly serious. From the analysis of all published data on the subject, from the mid-1990s to last year, from France to Finland, Australia to Germany, we can say that abortion almost certainly produces a doubling in the premature delivery rate. So, if a woman intends having an abortion she might at least like to be told that she’s increasing her chances of a problem pregnancy next time.” Details: CLICK TO READ MORE.....
Call for EU to Regulate IVF
A leading IVF specialist has called for regulations surrounding assisted reproductive technology to be harmonised throughout the European Union. Professor Paul Devroey, of Brussels Free University and chairman of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology, says that many couples travel to obtain expensive treatments in countries where the rules are less restrictive than in their own. He advocates the lifting of restrictions. However a pro-life spokesman said Professor Devroey's plans “run counter to the right to life, to the principle of subsidiarity, to legal systems of European countries which insist on protection for children before they are born, and they would be a gross infringement of their national sovereignty”. He added: “The manufacture of human beings through artificial reproduction is unethical and impractical. Fewer than 5% of human embryos created through IVF survive to birth, as they are exposed to dangers such as destructive experimentation, freezing, thawing, quality control testing and an increased miscarriage risk if they are implanted. If the EU wishes to improve the medical treatment available to infertile couples, it should be funding and promoting NaPro technology centres in every EU state. NaPro technology offers an ethical, non-invasive and cost-effective alternative to IVF with a higher success rate than any method of artificial reproduction." ELN. The Times, July 2. END.
Vatican Urges End to Amnesty International Aid
A senior Vatican Cardinal has urged Catholics not to donate money to Amnesty International because of its support for abortion. Cardinal Renato Martino, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, said there should be "No more financing of Amnesty International after the organisation's pro-abortion about-turn." Kate Gilmore, Amnesty's deputy secretary general, accused the Church of misrepresenting its policy, claiming that Amnesty was not promoting abortion as a universal right but, rather, as a woman's right to choose in cases such as rape, incest or when her health is at risk. A pro-life spokesman pointed out that Ms Gilmore’s comments “do not need further clarification”. BBC. CLICK TO READ MORE.....