The Sanctity of Life
World News Reports
Irish News Reports
Current Pro-Life Report
Life News - Archives
Euthanasia
Capital Punishment

Abortion
Abortion News
Hurt By Abortion
Post-Abortion Healing
Your Baby
Your Stories
Write Your Story

Truths About Abortion
Abortion Consequences
Abortion Techniques
Partial Birth Abortion

Abortion Pictures
Abortion Posters
Survivors of Abortion
Uninformed Consent
Maternal Deaths
Health Carer Testimonies
Abortion Scandals
Abortion Prayers

This page carries links to the various news reports on what's happening here in Ireland, in other European countries and around the world regarding the Sanctity of Life Issues.

July 3rd 2003

Nightmare Spectre of Babies from the Unborn

Women seeking fertility treatment could one day be offered donor eggs grown from the tissue of an aborted baby, UK researchers said on Monday. In an experiment that raises the prospect of babies with ³unborn mothers², ovarian tissue was removed from seven aborted unborn babies and kept alive in a laboratory for four weeks. The egg-producing follicles in the tissue continued to develop normally but did not reach the stage at which they released a healthy egg cell. Although the research raises a host of ethical dilemmas, the use of eggs from unborn babies is not banned in Britain. Preliminary results from the experiment were presented in Madrid to the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction. A team of Israeli and Dutch researchers collected ovarian tissue from seven babies aborted between the 22nd and 33rd weeks of pregnancy. One of the babies aborted came from a mother with a  psychiatric illness who felt unable to look after the baby. Daily Telegraph. July 1.

PD¹s Criticised for Anti-Life Stance

The Progressive Democrat T.D., Fiona O'Malley, has been criticised by the Irish Catholic¹s Sarah MacDonald for her recent praise of the Irish Family Planning Association's decision to distribute free condoms at the annual Witness rock festival. No doubt, her support for the move is seen in some quarters as a very ³progressive² and ³liberated² position for the rising star of the PDs to adopt. More likely, it is just one more voice contributing to the increasing pressure on young people to conform to a culture that is sexualising our children at a younger and younger age. These days love does not even get a look in - that seems to be of interest only to those who can benefit from marketing it as a commodity in the most crass fashion. The Witness move comes at a time when serious concerns have been expressed over new sex education booklets commissioned by the North Eastern Health Board, produced by the IFPA, but funded by the Irish Department of Health. Irish Catholic. June 25.

IVF Lecturer said Aborted Babies Eggs "could be valuable" 

Dr Françoise Shenfield, a lecturer in infertility at University College London and an expert (sic) in medical ethics, said that UK society was not ready for unborn mothers. ³We have to be extremely careful before research is done into this², she said. ³From a research point of view, these eggs could be valuable, but most people would be disturbed. They are already disturbed about abortion anyway. I would be very troubled by this, not only for ethical reasons but for psychological reasons, because what is the public going to think about where these eggs have come from?² Nuala Scarisbrick, of the anti-abortion group Life, said: ³This is macabre. It is sickening and disgusting, even by the low standards of reproductive technology². Daily Telegraph. July 1.

Anti-life Pressures on Pro-Life Workers in Ireland

According to a report in the Irish Family newspaper, ³pro-life, pro-family, doctors and pharmacists² in Ireland are ³under tremendous pressure to cave in to demands for condoms, and abortifacients such as birth control pills, the Œmorning-after¹ pill, and the IUD². The article points out ³what isn¹t so widely known is that some pro-life doctors suspect there is a deliberate and organised campaign to set up such doctors for law cases². The Irish Family went on, ³It has come to our attention that some pro-life, pro-family doctors, have felt it necessary to withdraw from the GMS fearing that they could be prosecuted for not providing such contraceptives or abortifacients². Irish Family. June 27.

Pro-Abortion Poll Shows Majority of Women Are Pro-Life

A recent poll conducted by the pro-abortion Centre for the Advancement of Women found something the authors did not expect: a majority of American women take a pro-life position on abortion. (Source: Centre for the Advancement of Women). Only 30% said abortion should be generally available. Fifty-one percent took a pro-life position saying abortion should be illegal (17%) or restricted only to the rare cases of rape, incest or to prevent the death of the mother (34%). Faye Wattleton, president of the group, bemoaned the results of her own poll. ³There is significant and growing support for severe restrictions on abortion rights², Wattleton said. This is ³alarming news², the former Planned Parenthood president Wattleton said. ³We are losing ground on many hard-won victories for women's rights, which could ambush the status that women have achieved². Pro-life groups were pleased by the poll results and said they show women reject abortion. LifeNews.com.

More Criticism¹s of FPA¹s "sexually explicit" Children¹s Booklets

Although aimed at 12 to 16-year-olds, the Irish Family Planning Association¹s booklets ³helpfully² suggest that young people should have sex ³whenever they feel the time is right² omitting to state that before the age of 17, sex is illegal. Edel Reynolds of the Pure in Heart group, which promotes chastity amongst teenagers, called the booklets absolutely ³misleading². Carmel Wynne, educator and writer with Face Up, the teens' magazine published by Redemptorist Publications, criticised the IFPA and said, ³It's contradictory and that's just not ok². According to Carmel another recent addition to the Irish publishing market, the magazine Kiss, which is aimed girls in the 14-16 age group, offered a free condom to readers in its May edition. ³Parents need to be looking at what their children are reading and just not assume it's fine², she said. Irish Catholic. June 25.

Polish Officials Seal Abortion Drugs on Ship

Polish officials have sealed abortion drugs on board the Dutch abortion ship to prevent them from being distributed. Such drugs are illegal in Poland. On board the Langenort, officials found 45 pills of abortion-inducing Mifegyne and 180 pills of Cytotec, which is used in combination with the abortion drug to induce labour and deliver the dead baby. Pro-life advocates say the crew of the ship may be endangering the lives of women with the drugs. ³These drugs are dangerous enough under normal circumstances², Randy O'Bannon, director of education at National Right to Life, said. ³We know that in clinical trials here in the U.S., the nausea, diarrhoea, and cramps alone that accompany these chemical abortions were enough to put some women in the hospital. Having to deal with these miles off shore in choppy water or worse would be a harrowing, if not potentially perilous, experience². The maker of Cytotec has previously issued warnings not to use the drug in combination with the abortion pill. LifeNews.com.

Government Criticised for Support of "most odious" Regulation 168

The Irish Government has been sharply criticised by the Irish Catholic for supporting the passing of two new EU regulations. They relate to "Aid for policies and actions on reproductive and sexual health and rights in developing countries". Pro-life groups fear that the programme will result in the promotion of abortion in Third World countries. Regulation 167 relates to uncontroversial health matters, whereas 168 "is by far the most odious", according to the Irish Catholic editorial. In order to be passed, the regulations had to be agreed by the Council of Ministers. ³Our minister was Tom Kitt and he helped to wave it through². David Quinn of the Irish Catholic further pointed out, ³Why doesn¹t the Government oppose abortion as vigorously as it would oppose infanticide?² Moreover, he added, "The fact that it doesn¹t speaks volumes". Irish Catholic. June 19.
____________________________________________________________________

All Your Book Needs and Free Pro-Life Materials

Contact Áras Mhuire Publications for all your online book needs and free pro-life materials at:
http://www.familyandlife.org/aras/

Help Pro-Life Efforts on Behalf of the Unborn in Ireland

To make a donation please click: http://www.familyandlife.org/familyandlife/appeal-online.html

To receive this news regularly, email:  . The reliability of the news herein is dependent on that of the cited sources. Opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Family & Life, 2002.  If you wish your name to be added or deleted please advise us accordingly.