News Roundup

First post-Roe March for Life marks ‘new era of education and advocacy’

Tens of thousands of marchers filed past the U.S. Capitol on Friday as a public witness that the pro-life movement is continuing the fight against abortion after the overturning of the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision in June.

Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life, told the Register that the next steps are to continue advocacy at the federal level, but even more importantly at state level.

Mancini said that another element of the path forward for the pro-life movement is to “strengthen the safety net for women when they are facing an unexpected pregnancy.”

Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly of the Knights of Columbus said that the “day-to-day hard work of the pro-life movement occurs at pregnancy-resource centers and maternity homes in the states,” in order to accompany vulnerable moms and provide them with the resources to choose life. He said the work of the Knights of Columbus in “putting in ultrasounds into these pregnancy centers” is key and “has saved countless thousands of lives.” And he cited the Knights’ new initiative Aid and Support After Pregnancy (ASAP), formed in the wake of the Dobbs decision, as a means to intensify their efforts to partner with pregnancy-resource centers.

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UK Army veteran fined for silent prayer near abortion clinic

Local authorities have fined a father and military veteran for “praying for [his] son, who is deceased” near an abortion facility on Ophir Road, Bournemouth. His son was killed 22 years ago in an abortion clinic.

Smith-Connor stood still and silent on the public street for a few minutes before being approached by “community safety accredited officers”. He had his back to the clinic in order to be mindful of the privacy of staff and attendees of the abortion facility. Video footage shows the council officers asking what he was doing. Smith-Connor informed them that he was “praying for my son, who is deceased”.

A censorship zone or “buffer zone” has been enforced since 13 October 2022. The zone was implemented by local authorities through a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) which criminalises engaging in “an act” or even “attempted act” of “approval/disapproval, with respect to issues related to abortion services, by any means. This includes but is not limited to graphic, verbal or written means, prayer or counselling” within the area surrounding an abortion facility. The PSPO further prohibits religious acts, including reading scripture or crossing oneself.

Smith-Connor has now been issued a fine on the basis of the PSPO. The Council stated in their email that the fine is based on his statement that he had been “praying for his son, who is deceased”.
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Church of England to bless same-sex couples but not allow marriage

The Church of England will continue to marry only opposite-sex couples in its churches under new proposals. However, same-sex couples will be allowed to receive a blessing in church.

This comes after MP and leader of the House of Commons Penny Morduant had lobbied her own Bishop for the Anglican

Church to change its teaching.

The proposals were developed by bishops, who form one of three parts of the Church’s governing body known as the General Synod, after the Church of England’s six-year consultation on sexuality and marriage – among other subjects – and will be put to the General Synod at a meeting next month.

The Church of England is central to the wider Anglican communion, which represents more than 85 million people in over 165 countries.

“Same-sex couples would still not be able to get married in a Church of England church,” the statement said, confirming a BBC report overnight that bishops had refused to support a change in teaching to allow priests to marry gay couples.

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Oireachtas committee ‘working on’ abortion exclusion zones

A plan for creating and policing so-called ‘abortion exclusion zones’ around hospitals and clinics that offer terminations will “hopefully” be published by Government later this year. Critics say such a law attacks freedom of speech, protest and assembly.

Detailed measures are being worked out as part of the Health Termination of Pregnancy Services (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2022.

Officials from the Department of Health appeared before the Oireachtas Committee on Health yesterday and said the Bill was identified as a “priority” for Government and would “barring unforeseen obstacles”, be published “soon”.

Officials said advice on aspects of the legislation was being taken from the Office of Parliamentary Counsel and the Office of the Attorney General.

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UN tells Pakistan to stop forced marriages of Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs

The United Nations (UN) “expressed alarm” after a group of experts investigated the plight of religious minorities in Pakistan amid concerns about forced conversions and marriages of Christians, Hindus, and Sikhs by Muslims.

Voice of America reports, “The group of around 12 independent U.N rights experts includes the special rapporteurs on the sale and sexual exploitation of children, on violence against women and on minority issues, and on contemporary forms of slavery.”

The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights issued a statement saying, “We are deeply troubled to hear that girls as young as 13 are being kidnapped from their families, trafficked to locations far from their homes, made to marry men sometimes twice their age, and coerced to convert to Islam, all in violation of international human rights law.”

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‘Make Birth Free’ proposes pro-life group

A US pro-life group has issued a white paper arguing that birth should be free to every mother in the USA.

Americans United for Life notes that mothers on private insurance may pay up to $5,000 for a healthy birth and up to $10,000 if there are medical complications. These expenses can provide the impetus to abort.

One answer to reducing abortions, the paper argues, is to ensure that every woman knows that she can give birth with no money out-of-pocket. The paper acknowledges that this would not be cheap, but it argues that doing this would, over time, reduce the total cost of births in the country.

The paper argues that free birth would go a long way toward promoting the general welfare.

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Parents offer sharp criticism of draft SPHE update

A “sub-group” of parents who responded to a public consultation about a proposed new Social Personal and Health Education (SPHE) programme for junior certificate students have expressed deep concern that teaching pupils about pornography might promote its use, a new report says. They also expressed msgivings about gender theories that say a person’s ‘gender’ and biological sex are unrelated. SPHE includes Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE).

The report has been issued by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) following the public consultation. It noted that the draft refers to ‘values’ several times and that the subject is clearly values-based, but does not state explicitly the values which underpin the updated SPHE course.

Some parents expressed strong criticism, with some pointing out “that gender identity is a highly contested and sensitive topic” which may lead to confusion and even harm for some adolescents.

They also alleged that the NCCA is seeking to promote ‘gender ideology’ by refusing to acknowledge the binary nature of gender.

The report said these respondents “are strongly of the view that we are born as either male or female and that sex is binary and immutable”.

Some parents were also “concerned about the lack of reference to morality, moral teachings or family values and would like to see the specification reflect a school’s right to teach topics in a manner that aligns with the school’s ethos and values”. Others “questioned the legitimacy of schools providing SPHE/RSE as they saw this as usurping the role of parents as educators of their children.”

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‘Approve gay relationships’, Tory MP tells Church of England

Tory MP and Leader of the Commons, Penny Mordaunt, has urged the Church of England to approve same sex relationships and gay marriage ahead of a potentially historic vote by bishops, marking the first intervention by a Cabinet minister on the issue.

Ms Mordaunt, who represents Portsmouth North, has written to the Bishop of Portsmouth, calling on him to “recognise the pain and trauma” that failure to recognise same-sex marriage causes to “many LGBT+ people who are left feeling that they are treated as second class citizens within our society”. Mordaunt ran in the recent Conservative Party leadership elections. According to current canon law, no Church of England minister can bless or marry gay couples.

Ms Mordaunt’s interjection is the first time a serving Cabinet minister has called for the issue to be reformed within the Church.

Next month, bishops will present their long-awaited findings to the General Synod on the status of gay relationships and the possibility of same-sex marriage.

Traditionalists hope bishops will veto any changes to the existing stance that marriage and church weddings are only for opposite-sex couples.

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Seventeen killed in Islamist attack on church in Congo

An attack on a church in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has left at least 17 people dead and injured many more.

The attack happened in Kasindi, in the Nord Kivu region near the Ugandan border, at 11am local time on Sunday as hundreds of Christians gathered for prayer and baptism.

The attackers, reportedly belonging to the Islamist Allied Democratic Forces terrorist group, set off a homemade IED in the attack.

The pastor of a nearby church told International Christian Concern (ICC) that he was midway through the Sunday service when he heard a loud blast.

“The area was chaotic since the believers were screaming, and smoke filled the whole place,” he said, adding that the attack was “gruesome”.

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Call for unity among doctors to protect conscience rights

The law allowing medical practitioners to refuse to carry out abortions needs to be strengthened, a conference in Dublin heard on Saturday.

Doctors for Life chairman Dr Ronan Cleary told the meeting: “Recent reports have highlighted a focus of the Irish abortion review on the topic of freedom of conscience.

“It is important that we as doctors speak with one voice on the need to uphold and strengthen freedom of conscience, to ensure it applies across the board to all healthcare professionals and that nobody is compelled against their principles to perform an abortion.

“The vast majority of GPs in Ireland are not performing abortions. Even for those who do not describe themselves as pro-life, in their heart of hearts they know abortion is not healthcare.

“Any attempt to erode freedom of conscience and bludgeon doctors into violating their principles by providing abortions against their will would rightly prompt a massive reaction from doctors.”

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