According to the New York Times, the United
States has privately raised concerns about Pillay's
nomination to the top human rights post because of
her strong support for abortion. Pillay is a founding
member of the international non-governmental organization
Equality Now, a group that has spearheaded campaigns
for abortion access in Poland and Nepal. Pillay remains
on the board of the organization which receives major
funding from pro-abortion foundations including George
Soros' Open Society Institute and the Ford Foundation.
In her interview with the Judicial Service Commission
in 1994 when she was being considered for membership
to South Africa's Constitutional Court, Pillay expressed
concern that including a 'right to life' article in
the South African Constitution would create problems
in relation to abortion. 'This is the one clause [the
pro-life lobby] are going to latch on to for their
cause…' Pillay said.
During that interview, Pillay also expressed concern
that the constitutional article did not define whether
or not such a right begins at conception, leaving
it 'open to litigation' which could potentially threaten
women's 'reproductive rights.' When pressed on why
she would be so opposed to a reasoned debate on the
issue, she responded with the question, 'why have
not other rights been put in there as patently as
this one which would be the woman's right to, reproductive
rights, for instance?'
Pillay became prominent for her role as presiding
judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda,
a post she occupied from 1995 until her appointment
to the International Criminal Court in 2003. Pillay
has been a favorite among women's groups and is consistently
endorsed by feminist NGOs for top level jobs at the
UN, including Secretary General. Radical feminist
NGOs first endorsed Pillay for the High Commissioner
on Human Rights post four years ago, but the job went
to Canada's Louise Arbour.
The High Commissioner is the principal UN official
with responsibility for human rights and is accountable
to the Secretary-General. According to UNHCR definition,
the High Commissioner is charged with the task of
leading the international human rights movement by
acting as a 'moral authority' and coordinating and
streamlining human rights within the UN system. This
would include all of the human rights treaty monitoring
bodies which have increasingly overstepped their mandates
to pressure more than 60 sovereign nations on their
abortion laws in recent years.
Critics are concerned that Pillay will adopt the same
positions on social issues as her predecessors, Canada's
Louise Arbour and Ireland's Mary Robinson. Both Arbour
and Robinson support abortion as a human right. Both
also enthusiastically endorse the 'Yogyakarta Principles,'
a document claiming homosexual rights as binding human
rights including same-sex 'marriage,' adoption by
homosexual couples and state-funded sex change operations.
A formal announcement from Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
on Pillay's nomination is expected this week.
New
Book Exposes Eugenics Mandate
Susan
Yoshihara writes : A new book by Columbia University
professor Matthew Connelly documents the way the 'reproductive
rights' leaders at the UN Population Fund (UNFPA)
and International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF)
rose to power by exposing the abuses of the population
control movement but then supported even larger and
more coercive programs.
In 1973, twenty years after formally establishing
global population control, the movement's leaders
believed it was spinning beyond their control. In
response to bad press about out-of-control sterilization
campaigns in India and elsewhere followed by a groundswell
of popular backlash, John D. Rockefeller was persuaded
to re-brand the movement from a 'war' on population
to a campaign for women's rights. Likewise, General
William Draper's Population Crisis Committee sponsored
the 'feminist unity' platform at the 1974 World Population
Conference in Bucharest.
In Connelly's view, 'reproductive rights' advocates
exploited protests against population control beginning
with the Bucharest conference and managed to gradually
take over the movement by the time of the UN's 1994
population conference in Cairo. Connelly believes
the feminist focus on abortion rights essentially
returned the movement to Margaret Sanger's original
vision of eugenics which maintained that poor women
needed government-funded birth control and abortion
because they could not be left alone to make their
own choices about fertility.
According to Connelly, it is for this reason that
UNFPA and IPPF supported China's one child policy
'with eyes wide open' from its inception in 1980.
'As the IPPF and UNFPA stepped up support, China's
program became ever more coercive,' he says, citing
eyewitness reports of women 'handcuffed, tied with
ropes or placed in pig baskets,' while 'every day
hundreds of fetuses arrive[d] in the morgue.' IPPF
officials, 'untroubled' by the reports, reassured
donors that Chinese government policies were not compulsory,
even during a campaign that resulted-in 1983 alone-in
16 million women and 4 million men undergoing mandatory
sterilization, 18 million IUD insertions (required
for all mothers) and 14 million abortions of 'unauthorized
pregnancies.' Connelly says IPPF and UNFPA did not
even issue 'a pro forma injunction to avoid coercion-something
that was standard in previous campaigns,' and senior
UNFPA staff argued against 'too narrow an interpretation
of voluntarism.'
That same year, UNFPA awarded the architect of the
one child program, Soviet-trained army general Xinzhong
Qian, its first Population Award. Indira Gandhi, whose
reelection as India's prime minister was thwarted
by populace outraged over her government's abusive
population policies, was the co-winner. UN Secretary
General Perez de Cuellar offered them his 'deep appreciation'
for 'marshal[ing] the resources necessary to implement
population policies on a massive scale.'
Connelly concludes that the entire population control
movement was not just brutal but unnecessary since
fertility rates have fallen equally in countries with
or without population programs. He wrote the book
in hopes that his account of the world's first transnational
movement will make readers skeptical of other global
governance movements. Unaccountable to people, he
says, they too can bring great human suffering in
the name of making the world a better place. [C-FAM]
1468.6
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Europe
'Moving
backwards'
During an international meeting with the heads of
various religious communities, Cardinal Franc Rode,
prefect of the Congregation for Institutes of Consecrated
Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, said Europe
is 'moving backwards in the area of religion because
legislative bodies on the continent are increasingly
moving further away from Christian principles.'
During the meeting organized by the congregation he
heads, the French cardinal underscored that 'laws
being passed in almost every country in Europe do
not coincide with Christian principles,' and therefore
religious 'superiors have a clear challenge, and at
the same time an inescapable task: to root out the
subtle forms of internal secularization that have
become present in our surroundings.'
These subtle forms of secularization include 'language
that has lost its religious content, the engaging
in social activities to the detriment of more ecclesial
ones, the concept of the mission as an agent of social
progress and not as a means of evangelization,' he
said.
Cardinal Rode later said that the 'Church and society
need people capable of giving themselves totally to
God and to others out of love of God,' and therefore
'consecrated persons can and should respond in a credible
way to religious indifference, to the loss of the
sense of the transcendent and of eschatological hope.'
[CNA] 1468.7
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Ireland
put under pressure
The
United Nations is pressing Ireland over its restrictive
abortion law. The UN's human rights committee expressed
concern and noted that what it calls progress was
slow. Patrick Buckley of European Life Network, Dublin,
writes: 'This is yet another example of an 'out of
control' UN committee operating beyond its mandate
and instructing nations to adhere to its own agenda
rather than the covenant it is supposed to be monitoring.
There is no reference to abortion anywhere in the
[International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights]
or any other legally binding international treaty.
This is the type of action [which] brings the UN and
its agencies into disrepute.' [Irish Times, ELN blog,
SPUC] 1468.8
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The radical onslaught
Mandatory
teaching on homosexual 'marriage'
A
pamphlet set to be distributed by the California Secretary
of State warns voters that if they do not pass Proposition
8 in November to constitutionally define marriage
between one man and one woman, they will face an unexpected
consequence: children as young as kindergarten will
be subject to mandatory teaching on the virtues of
homosexual marriage.
Opponents
of Proposition 8 are calling the education argument
a smokescreen, a scare tactic and a fabrication. Supporters,
however, are saying it addresses a reality Californians
will face if voters don't stand up and insist on a
constitutional, traditional definition of marriage.
Randy
Thomasson, president of Campaign for Children and
Families, told WND, 'New California laws are pushing
sex education further and further into younger grades,
and school districts that provide sex education are
mandated by law to teach children to honour marriage.
Without Proposition 8 school children in the younger
grades will definitely be taught to honour homosexual
marriage between two men or two women as married role
models.'
Attorney
Shannon Minter, who represented same-sex couples in
the California Supreme Court case that struck down
the state's ban on same-sex marriage, told the San
Francisco Chronicle, 'This is pure fabrication. They
are trying to inflame people by making up these falsehoods
about kids.'
Jennifer
Kerns, a spokesperson for a Proposition 8 support
coalition called ProtectMarriage.com, however, pointed
WND to the specific section of California law mandating
instruction on marriage in schools.
'The
California Education Code clearly states that schools
would be required to provide instruction to children
as young as kindergartners that same-sex marriage
is the same as traditional marriage,' Kerns told WND.
'The code specifically states that the legal and financial
aspects and responsibilities of marriage must be taught.'
The
voter guide, written by supporters and opponents of
Proposition 8, citing arguments both for and against,
will be printed and delivered to California residents'
homes, barring any court ordered changes to the final
wording, but is posted currently for public inspection
before mailing.
The
education argument, written by proponents of Proposition
8 in the official voter guide, states, 'The narrow
decision of the California Supreme Court isn't just
about 'live and let live.' In health education classes,
state law requires teachers to instruct children as
young as kindergarteners about marriage. … If
the homosexual marriage ruling is not overturned
teachers will be required to teach young children
there is no difference between gay marriage and traditional
marriage.
'We
should not accept a court decision that results in
public schools teaching our kids that gay marriage
is okay. That is an issue for parents to discuss with
their children according to their own values and beliefs.
It shouldn't be forced on us against our will' (all
emphasis in the original).
The
official rebuttal, published in the same voter guide,
calls the education argument 'scare tactics' and 'a
smokescreen,' arguing that Proposition 8 doesn't have
anything to do with education.
According
to the Chronicle, opponents of Proposition 8 are now
considering whether or not to sue over the issue,
the only legal way an official ballot argument can
be changed before an election.
As
WND reported earlier, supporters of homosexual marriage
had sued to block Proposition 8 from being on the
ballot at all, but were defeated.
Proposition
8, if passed, would effectively overturn the May 15
California Supreme Court decision striking down the
state's ban on same-sex marriage by adding the words
'only marriage between a man and a woman is valid
or recognized in California' to the state's constitution.
[WorldNetDaily] 1468.9
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International news
Canada
Msgr. Foy on Humanae Vitae
In
the upcoming edition of Catholic Insight magazine,
Canada's greatest defender of the Pope Paul VI's encyclical
Humanae Vitae - 92-year-old Monsignor Vincent Foy
- concludes his lifelong championship of the papal
position on birth control. Released this week, on
the 40th anniversary of the encyclical, Monsignor
Foy calls on the Bishops of Canada to revoke their
'Winnipeg Statement', which he says is an unacceptable
document of dissent.
Humanae
Vitae presents the teaching against contraception
as stemming from the law of God, not the Church, and
thus as universally applicable not merely to Catholics.
However, Msgr. Foy points to a devastating letter
sent by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops
to politicians which permits even Catholic legislators
to support the legalization of contraception.
Msgr.
Foy writes: 'On Sept. 9, 1966, the CCCB addressed
a document To the House of Commons Standing Committee
on Health and Welfare: on Change in the Law of
Contraception. The bishops said in part: 'We consider
Article 150, which forbids giving information about
contraception, as well as the sale or distribution
of contraception an inadequate law today…A large
number of our fellow citizens believe that this law
violates their rights to be informed and helped towards
responsible parenthood in accordance with their personal
beliefs.''
The
CCCB letter added: 'We do not conceive it our duty
to oppose appropriate changes in Article 150 of the
Criminal Code. Indeed, we could easily envisage an
active co-operation and even leadership on the part
of lay Catholics to change a law which under present
conditions they might well judge to be harmful to
public order and the common good.'
Msgr
Foy commnets: 'This incredible betrayal of Catholic
teaching on the intrinsic evil of contraception was
a factor in the passing of a bill by the Liberal government
under Pierre Trudeau, legalizing contraception (June
27, 1969).'
But
that was only a lead-up to what Foy calls, 'the Winnipeg
disaster of Friday Sept. 27th, 1968.' On that date,
he recalls, 'the Canadian bishops, gathered in Winnipeg
for their annual meeting and published a Statement
on Humanae vitae. After denying the sufficiency of
grace for some (n.17) the bishops embraced the error
of allowing married couples to break God's law by
the subterfuge of the subjective conscience. They
said there were circumstances in which the couples
'may be safely assured that whoever honestly chooses
that course which seems right to him does so in good
conscience' (n.26).' (see the full Winnipeg statement
here)
In
his article Foy names some of the most prominent players
orchestrating the original dissent from Humanae
Vitae in Canada, including: Cardinal Emile Leger,
Cardinal Leo Suenens, Archbishop Aurèle Plourde
of Ottawa, Edward Schillebeeckx, OP, Karl Rahner,
SJ, Bernard Häring, CSsR, Bernard Lonergan, SJ,
Enda McDonagh, Gregory Baum, OSA, Stanley Kutz, CSB,
and Leslie Dewart.
Neither
the letter to politicians nor the Winnipeg Statement
has ever been revoked by the Bishops of Canada. 'For
forty years rebellion has been widespread in Canada,'
says Foy. 'For forty years we have experienced the
deadly fruit of turning away from Christ in the most
critical area of life and marital love . . . Pope
John Paul II called dissent from Humanae vitae the
'Great Lie.' This lie remains in Canada like a festering,
cancerous wound.'
Despite
over 40 years of struggle against the dissent, the
92-year-old prelate still sees hope. 'Yet there is
hope on this 40th Anniversary of Humanae vitae,'
writes Foy. 'God's grace, always sufficient, will
be given mercifully and generously if there are faithful
bishops, priests, religious, and laity prayerful and
ready to make the sacrifices required.'
'It
is a most urgent responsibility of our Canadian bishops
to seek to undo the betrayal of the Winnipeg Statement,'
concludes Foy. 'Canadian Catholics have a right to
ask their bishops for a revocation of that Statement
. . . In concrete terms it is not defiance of our
bishops but love of the episcopacy which leads Catholics
to ask our bishops to restore orthodoxy.' [LifeSiteNews]
1468.10
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Germany
'Gender re-assignment' law
A
German high court has ruled that those who have undergone
'gender reassignment' therapy can now change their
legal name and sex while they are still in legal marriages.
Previously, the law only allowed the recognition of
'sex-changes' if the person was unmarried. Married
'transsexuals' who wanted to change their designations
on birth certificates and other official documentation
had to first obtain a divorce.
The
case was brought by a man, not named in the press,
who underwent 'sex-change' surgery in 2002, but who
says he did not want to have to end his 'happy marriage'
in order to have the government recognise his 'sex-change.'
The Federal Constitutional Court ruled that he may
change his gender and legal name without divorcing
his wife, who, it is reported, also did not want to
end the marriage.
The
man was born in 1929, has three adult children and
has been married for 56 years.
The
court ruled that the government must change its law
by 2009. The current law requires that a legal change
of gender requires that the person is unmarried, permanently
infertile, and 'has had surgery through which their
outer sexual characteristics are changed to a significant
approximation to the appearance of the other sex/gender.'
Courts
had previously struck down a provision of the law
that required the person to be at least 25 years old.
[LifeSiteNews] 1468.11
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Kenya
Scars remain
Though Kenya's prime minister was in London this week
assuring investors that his country is back on track
after post-election violence, the scars from those
weeks of conflict have left their mark.
According
to the nation's bishops, one of the consequences of
the January-February violence over disputed election
results is a revolt in schools.
President
Mwai Kibaki was declared winner over Raila Odinga
in the contested election last December. The unrest
ended with a power-sharing deal in which Odinga was
named prime minister, taking office in April.
But
the weeks of violence have left a scar on discipline
in schools, the bishops lamented. According to the
Fides news agency, more than 300 secondary schools
are in revolt in Kenya. In some situations, including
a minor seminary in the Archdiocese of Nairobi, the
students themselves have sacked and burned school
buildings.
Cardinal
John Njue, archbishop of Nairobi, called a press conference
Wednesday to explain the Church's position on the
situation. The bishops' conference released a full
statement that day, signed by Bishop Maurice Crowley,
chairman for the Commission for Education, which explained
the prelates' view of the causes of the unrest and
steps toward a solution.
The
bishops list 31 underlying causes of the situation,
including the post-election violence, but also detailing
a social situation characterized by a lack of solid
family structures and a corrupt educational system.
'Heroes'
Regarding
the post-election violence, they wrote: '[Some students']
moral responsibility was totally killed. They burned
houses, saw other people running away, children falling
from tiredness, hunger and thirst for water. They
became immune from any feeling of humanity. They regard[ed]
their deeds as successful when they saw people being
killed, maimed and property being destroyed. What
we are witnessing now is the result of this demonization
of moral responsibility.
'They
were not reprimanded by the parents or the elders.
In fact, they were regarded as heroes. When the students
returned to school, they went with the idea that to
be successful and a hero they need to disrupt and
destroy the system.'
But
the bishops are clear that the violence following
December's election is just one factor. They also
decried elements leading to the unrest, which range
from inadequate parent-teacher associations to a lack
of employment opportunities to norms that have eliminated
vacation time, as well as students' use of cell phones
to encourage and report on their revolts.
The
list of solutions suggested by the bishops is equally
broad. It includes ideas such as continuing education
for teachers, steps taken to improve the student-teacher
ratio, and funds from both the ministry of education
and tuition fees being delivered promptly.
'Kenya,'
the statement concluded, 'cannot afford to lose a
generation through irresponsibility and irrationality.'
[Zenit] 1468.12
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Nepal
Violence against minorities
An
interreligious meeting for prayer was held in the
capital of Nepal to show the need for greater union
in response to violence against minorities.
The
meeting recalled the July 1 slaying of Salesian Father
John Prakash, 62, who directed a school in Sirsiya
in the Morang district of the South Asian country.
The Nepal Defense Army, a group of militants seeking
to return the country to a Hindu state, claimed responsibility
for the attack.
Those
attending the prayer meeting recalled Father Prakash's
missionary commitment, urging all to do good, regardless
of their religious affiliation.
'He
was a person capable of great compassion for the poor
and the marginalized. His commitment to Don Bosco
school in Sirsiya was appreciated by all,' said Bishop
Anthony Sharma, the country's first and only bishop,
serving as apostolic vicar of Nepal.
Keshav
Chaulagin, secretary of Nepal's Interreligious Council,
expressed solidarity with the Catholic community and
added that people of all religions should condemn
the murder of the Salesian.
L'Osservatore
Romano noted that a 'slow process' has begun in Nepal
'to foster dialogue: four feasts of as many religious
minorities have been recognized, including Christians'
Christmas.'
The
minorities requested this government measure when
Nepal was declared a lay state in 2006. Nepal was
previously the world's only Hindu nation
The
country has more than 29.5 million inhabitants, over
80% of whom are Hindus. Christians constitute 0.4%
of the population. [Zenit] 1468.13
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Philippines
Muslim 'warriors' threat
A Catholic bishop in the southern Philippines' Basilan
province has received a letter from self-described
'Muslim warriors' possibly linked to Abu Sayyaf who
are threatening him with harm if he does not convert
to Islam or pay 'Islamic taxes.' Further, authorities
are seeking the return of three adults and two children,
all Catholics, who were kidnapped in the same area
this week.
On
July 19 Bishop Martin Jumoad of Isabela sent a copy
of the threatening letter to Church-run Radio Veritas
in Quezon City, UCA News reports. Bishop Jumoad told
UCA News that a student at Claret College in Isabela
was told to give the letter to the school secretary
who could pass it along to the bishop.
The
writers of the letter claimed to be 'Muslim warriors'
who 'don't follow any laws other than the Qur'an.'
They say the bishop should convert to Islam or pay
the Islamic tax, called a 'jizya,' to their group
in exchange for protecting him 'in the place of Muslims.'
If
the bishop refuses, the letter threatened, 'force,
weapons or war may be used' against him. Citing bombings
in other Philippines cities, the letter said he should
not feel safe even if protected by soldiers.
Bishop
Jumoad was given two mobile cell phone numbers and
told he had fifteen days to respond. The letter bore
the two names 'Puruji Indama' and 'Nur Hassan J. Kallitut,'
both of whom were titled 'Mujahiddin.'
The
letter was accompanied by a letterhead in the local
dialect that said 'Al-Harakatul Islamiyya.' The bishop
said he has seen the phrase 'Al-Harakatul' in kidnapping
incidents in Basilan involving the terrorist group
Abu Sayyaf.
He
also reported that other Catholics have said they
are receiving threatening letters. 'Bishop, we are
disoriented and we cannot sleep. What is our reaction
to this?' they have reportedly said.
On
July 21 the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines''
CBCP News reported that three adults and two children
who are members of a parish in Basilan had been kidnapped
from a public jeep. Provincial administrator Talib
A. Barahim on Tuesday told UCA News that no one has
reported receiving a ransom demand.
Muslims
who commit violence were rebuked at a joint conference
between Catholic bishops and Muslim scholars on Monday
in Manila, where Hamid Barra, the Muslim convener
of the conference, underlined Islamic belief in the
sacredness of life.
'It
is God who gave life; he is the only one authorized
to take life,' he said.
Barra,
an Islamic law expert, explained that non-Muslims
protected by an Islamic state are required to pay
the jizya tax, which is used to support the needy,
but no such payment is required in a non-Islamic state.
[CNA] 1468.14
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Philippines
Humanity under attack
'No wonder', writes John Smeaton in his SPUC Director's
blog, 'No wonder 15 Philippino bishops led their people
in a prayer rally in Manila yesterday opposing a population
bill currently being considered by the House of Representatives
in the Philippines. Reading it through one can only
conclude that the Bill has been framed by the enemies
of humanity - or the friends and supporters of International
Planned Parenthood Federation.
Read
below Sections 21 and 22 of the bill, entitled 'Prohibited
Acts' and 'Penalties':
'SEC.
21. Prohibited Acts. - The following acts are prohibited:
a.) Any health care service provider, whether public
or private who shall :
1.
Knowingly withhold information or impede the dissemination
thereof, and/or intentionally provide incorrect information
regarding programs and services on reproductive health
including the right to informed choice and access
to a full range of legal, medically-safe and effective
family planning methods;
2.
Refuse to perform voluntary ligation and vasectomy
and other legal and medically-safe reproductive health
care services on any person of legal age on the ground
of lack of spousal consent or authorization.
3.
Refuse to provide reproductive health care services
to an abused minor, whose abused condition is certified
by the proper official or personnel of the Department
of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) or to duly
DSWD-certified abused pregnant minor on whose case
no parental consent is necessary
4.
Fail to provide, either deliberately or through gross
or inexcusable negligence, reproductive health care
services as mandated under this Act, the Local Government
Code of 1991, the Labor Code, and Presidential Decree
79, as amended; and
5.
Refuse to extend reproductive health care services
and information on account of the patient's civil
status, gender or sexual orientation, age, religion,
personal circumstances, and nature of work: Provided,
That all conscientious objections of health care service
providers based on religious grounds shall be respected:
Provided, further, That the conscientious objector
shall immediately refer the person seeking such care
and services to another health care service provider
within the same facility or one which is conveniently
accessible: Provided, finally, That the patient is
not in an emergency or serious case as defined in
RA 8344 penalizing the refusal of hospitals and medical
clinics to administer appropriate initial medical
treatment and support in emergency and serious cases.
b) Any public official who prohibits or restricts
personally or through a subordinate the delivery of
legal and medically-safe reproductive health care
services, including family planning c.) Any employer
who shall fail to comply with his obligation under
Section 17 of this Act or an employer who requires
a female applicant or employee, as a condition for
employment or continued employment, to involuntarily
undergo sterilization , tubal ligation or any other
form of contraceptive method; d) Any person who shall
falsify a certificate of compliance as required in
Section 14 of this Act; and e) [sic] f) Any person
who maliciously engages in disinformation about the
intent or provisions of this Act.
'SEC.
22. Penalties. - The proper city or municipal court
shall exercise jurisdiction over violations of this
Act and the accused who is found guilty shall be sentenced
to an imprisonment ranging from one (1) month to six
(6) months or a fine ranging from Ten Thousand Pesos
(P10,000.00) to Fifty Thousand Pesos(P50,000.00) or
both such fine and imprisonment at the discretion
of the court. If the offender is a juridical person,
the penalty shall be imposed upon the president, treasurer,
secretary or any responsible officer. An offender
who is an alien shall, after service of sentence,
be deported immediately without further proceedings
by the Bureau of Immigration. An offender who is a
public officer or employee shall suffer the accessory
penalty of dismissal from the government service.
Violators of this Act shall be civilly liable to the
offended party in such amount at the discretion of
the proper court.'
Pat
Buckley of European Life Network, one of SPUC's lobbyists
at the UN and the Human Rights Council in Geneva,
says of the Philippines population bill: 'The act
not only sets the scene for the introduction of abortion
it is also aimed at substantially reducing the population
by various means including abortifacient birth control
and sterilisation. While some of the language is about
choice there is also coercion. Medical personnel will
be forced either to comply or to refer people to someone
who will. This is a direct attack on conscientious
objection. There are also a range of penalties if
various people do not comply, from dismissal to fines
and imprisonment. There is also a provision that says
Any person who maliciously engages in disinformation
about the intent or provisions of this Act shall be
subject to penalties. This is a grave attack on freedom
of speech and is aimed at the pro-life community and
the Church. Many of the definitions are straight from
the International Conference on Population and Development
(ICPD, Cairo) document but the sections used have
been cherry-picked to exclude the balancing areas.
The ICPD is 'soft law' only and is not enforceable.
The other thing about ICPD is that it states clearly
in the text that it does not create any new human
rights.'
A
world day of fasting and prayer for the unborn has
been proposed for 14th August. Humanity is under attack
in the Philippines - and 40 years after Britain legalized
abortion, there's a danger of a huge extension of
the Abortion Act at report stage of the Human Fertilisation
and Embryology Bill in October, including its imposition
on Northern Ireland. Let me know if you would like
to organize a day of fasting and prayer in your area
and I will send you some simple guidelines. Write
to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk [SPUC] 1468.15
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Philippines
Pro-life rally
Pro-life
activists gathered in Manila on July 25 in a massive
rally organized by the country's Catholic bishops
and several lay groups to express opposition to a
drive for a government-sponsored contraception campaign.
The
demonstrators expressed their opposition to the Reproductive
Health bill, now pending in the national legislature.
The bill would launch a national drive to promote
contraceptive use.
The
rally, held at the University of Santo Tomas, was
deliberately scheduled on the 40th anniversary of
the papal encyclical 'Humanae Vitae'. Participants
paid tribute to Pope Paul VI, the author of that 1968
encyclical, and to the Catholic Church generally,
for upholding the dignity of human sexuality and the
integrity of familiy life.
Manila's
Cardinal Gaudencio Rosales led a large group of bishops
at the rally. Also present were Archbishop Angel Lagdameo,
the president of the Filipino bishops' conference;
and Archbishop Edward Adams, the apostolic nuncio
in Manila. Several members of the Filipino parliament
also addressed the crowd. [CWNews] 1468.16
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