LifeZine No. 551: 18th Dec 07
‘This Country Can be a Cold, Cold Place for Working Families’—ICTU
Working families need time for parents and children to be with each other, argued Sally Anne Kinahan assistant general secretary of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU). Central to this is the need to deliver greater flexibility and support for working families. That much should be self-evident. This country can be a cold, cold place for working families, she pointed out. In reality, we are at the wrong end of every relevant, comparative chart and graph across the EU15 and we sometimes fall behind the new accession states in terms of services and supports for working families. While our public spending on families has more than doubled since 1980, we still spend less, as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), on this crucial sector of the population than 11 other European countries, including Hungary. Their public spending on families accounts for over 3.5 per cent of GDP, ours just 2.5 per cent, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. “Unfortunately”, she noted, “bricks and mortar carry more weight than babies these days”. Details: CLICK TO READ MORE.....
Journalist Challenges ‘Irish Times’ Science Columnist’s ‘Fallacy’ on Human Embryos
Journalist Kieron Wood took issue recently with the “Irish Times” Science Correspondent Dick Ahlstrom. Mr Ahlstrom had written (Innovation supplement, December 10th) that the destruction of early-stage human embryos "incensed conservative and religious groups, [which] viewed it as the murder of potential human life". However, according to Mr Wood, “The fallacy is obvious in Mr Ahlstrom's own language. These are human embryos—tiny human beings, not potential human beings.” The Irish Times. CLICK TO READ MORE.....
Archbishop Criticises ‘Fictional Parenthood’
The Archbishop of Birmingham, UK, has spoken out against the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, presently before Parliament. Speaking at the annual civic Mass in the city's St Chad's Cathedral, Archbishop Vincent Nichols said that allowing two women to register as a child's parents would create a “fictional parenthood”. Birmingham Post.
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Abortions Under New Government RU-486 Scheme Will Turn Every GP's Surgery into an Abortion Facility
The British government has proposed a scheme to turn every General Practitioner's (family doctor) surgery in the country into an abortion facility. The Department of Health (DoH) said trials to test "safety and effectiveness" of GP's supervising "medical" or drug-induced abortions are already underway at two undisclosed locations. If the scheme goes ahead, all British GP surgeries will be authorised to prescribe the deadly abortion drug RU-486 up to the ninth week of pregnancy. Either a physician or a nurse could give the tablets. The DoH said in a statement, "The evaluation will be complete in the New Year and we will consider the results carefully before reaching a decision." Currently, the abortion pill is responsible for 30% of British abortions. 80% of abortions in Britain are committed in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. LifeSiteNews.com. CLICK TO READ MORE.....
UN Policies Led to Grisly Abortion Disposal Devices Say Spanish Pro-Lifers
The grisly killings, revealed recently in the Spanish media, of eight month old unborn children illegally aborted and ground up in powerful disposal units, should ultimately be blamed on the United Nations, according to Manuel Cruz, director of the Spanish Life Foundation. "The disposal units encountered in the abortuaries of the Spanish city of Barcelona and the ground up human remains of foetuses is a consequence of the 'hidden strategy' begun in 1996, in the New York area of Glen Cove", says Manuel Cruz in an article published on the organization's website. "This integral strategy to spread the 'right to abortion on demand' arose at that time, promoted by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the Human Rights High Commission and several other organisations. From there proceeds the ground up remains and the foetus grinders, together with the acceptance of the majority of Spanish society", Cruz added. The Life Foundation accuses the very organisations charged with protecting human rights of collusion in the destruction of innocent human life, including Committee of the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), the Committee of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Committee of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. LifeSiteNews.com. CLICK TO READ MORE.....
Urgent Prayer Request from Bryan, TX, USA
The following letter came from one of our readers: “Hello to everyone, hope your doing well. I have a personal favour to ask of you. Ivory is 7 years old and this week she was riding her go cart without a helmet, and lost control landing her under a neighbours double wide that didn't have any skirting. She was stopped by the floor and support beam by her neck. She slashed her neck from her ear to her larynx, cutting her thyroid, her juggler was torn slightly causing the blood to drain into her lungs, which then collapsed, she broke her neck, & broke her back. She was air lifted to Musc, she has had one operation on her lower back and they found her spinal cord to be totally cut. They have to wait for 2 weeks to operate on her larynx, thyroid and neck. Not knowing until then if her spinal cord is torn at the neck...Which will tell to what extent she will be paralyzed. This little girl is only seven years old and has her whole life to live. I ask you to lift her up to God in prayer. And if you wouldn't mind adding her to your Church prayer chain, we all know what God can do when we only have Faith and come together in unity. Thank you so much for your time and most importantly... your prayers.” END.