LifeZine No. 606: 16th Jul 08
Family & Life Welcomes Reduction in Abortion Figures
In June this year, the UK’s Department of Health released the abortion figures for England and Wales for 2007. There can be no denying that they were horrendous—a further substantial rise in the total, an alarming rise among teenagers, and a rise in repeat abortions. The only encouraging figure in these statistics was that of women giving Irish addresses at the abortion clinics. These women are commonly assumed to be residents of the Irish Republic. In 2007 4,686 women gave Irish addresses, thus making it the sixth year that this number has fallen. Family & Life welcomes this reduction, and gives thanks to God that fewer women from Ireland are aborting their babies. We believe that the educational efforts of Family & Life have played an important part in this reduction, and we are encouraged to redouble our efforts in the future, knowing that even one abortion is a tragedy with two victims. Details: CLICK TO READ MORE.....
Irish Bishops Challenge ‘Ecumenical’ View on Marriage
According to an “Irish Catholic” newspaper report, Irish Catholic Church leaders have reasserted their support for traditional marriage in what has been interpreted as a thinly-veiled attack on the Irish School of Ecumenics. In a recent statement the Bishops’ Conference said the debate around marriage is sometimes “promoted by individuals or institutions who claim support from Christian ideals” and went to say that “marriage presupposes the mutuality and complementarity of the sexes”. David Quinn, Director of the Iona Institute told The Irish Catholic: “It’s obvious that this statement is prompted by a recent conference on this subject organized by the Irish School of Ecumenics.“ Details: CLICK TO READ MORE.....
Teenager Died After Aborting Child
A woman aged 18 died after taking a drug prescribed to procure an abortion in 2005, an inquest has heard, Miss Manon Jones of Bristol, England, suffered bleeding, seizures and cardiac arrest some 13 days after taking the substance. All or part of the unborn child was retained by her body, causing shock, and her haemoglobin level seems to have been unusually low. She could have been saved by prompt blood transfusion. The inquest continues. The description of the abortion procedure suggests that the drug RU486 may have been used. Details: CLICK TO READ MORE.....
Cervical Cancer Vaccinations to be Given in UK Schools by September
Hundreds of thousands of girls in the UK will be vaccinated against cervical cancer when they return to school in September. The Government said that an estimated 300,000 girls would receive injections to protect them against the disease. Ministers have selected the Cervarix vaccine, manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, which will be offered to every 12 and 13-year-old girl in the country on their return to school after the summer holiday break. However, the injections have proved controversial and parents are worried that they could encourage schoolchildren to engage in under-age sex. Earlier this year safety fears were raised after girls in Germany and Austria died hours after receiving the HPV vaccination. Details: CLICK TO READ MORE.....
Italian Euthanasia Ruling Draws Vatican Rebuke
An Italian court ruled recently that a road accident victim could be removed from life support after 16 years in a coma, drawing a swift rebuke from the Vatican, which said the ruling gave "de facto" justification for euthanasia. Monsignor Rino Fisichella, head of the Vatican's Pontifical Academy for Life, reacted by telling the ANSA news agency that the ruling justified "an act of euthanasia de facto" and should be challenged in a higher court. "A patient in a 'permanent vegetative state' is a person with fundamental human dignity and must, therefore, receive ordinary and proportionate care which includes, in principle, the administration of water and food even by artificial means," the Vatican said. Catholic bioethics experts said magistrates could not "disregard the inviolability of life and the duty of every civil society to help its weakest citizens”. Details: CLICK TO READ MORE.....
Canadian Bishops Issue Warning on HPV Vaccine
Catholic bishops in the Canadian diocese of Alberta are warning parents to think twice about letting their daughters be vaccinated against a cancer-causing, sexually transmitted virus. The bishops said that giving the HPV vaccine risked sending a message to girls that casual sex is acceptable. “Catholic teaching is that sexuality is a God-given gift that should be reserved for marriage", the bishops wrote. "So-called 'casual' or 'recreational' sexual activity carries with it profound risks to a young person's spiritual, emotional, moral and physical health.” Details: CLICK TO READ MORE.....