Important statement on the family by the Holy See Permanent Observer to the UN in Geneva

The Permanent Observer to the Holy See to the United Nations in Geneva Archbishop Silvano Tomasi during he 26^th session of the Human Rights council in Geneva delivered an uncompromising statement on the importance of the family founded upon marriage, between a man and a woman, which he said must be defended and promoted, not only by the state but by society as a whole.

Archbishop Tomasi commenced his address by drawing attention to the UN celebration of the 20th anniversary of the International Year of the Family, which took place May 15 under the theme “Families Matter for the Achievement of Development Goals.”

The choice of theme, according to the Archbishop, had a strong relationship to Resolution 2012/10, adopted by ECOSOC that stressed the need ‘for undertaking concerted actions to strengthen family-centered policies and programs as part of an integrated, comprehensive approach to development.’

Archbishop Tomasi then adverted to, ‘strong debates in the Council chamber often lead states to conclude that the family is more of a problem than a resource to society.’  And went on to say that the Holy See delegation believes that despite past or even current challenges, the family is in fact the fundamental unit of human society. It continually, he said, exhibits a vigor, much greater than that of the many forces that have tried to eliminate it as a relic of the past, or an obstacle to the emancipation of the individual, or to the creation of a freer, egalitarian and happy society.

The archbishop continued by saying that the ‘family and society, which are mutually linked by vital and organic bonds, have complementary functions in the defense and advancement of the good of every person and of humanity. The dignity and rights of the individual are not diminished by the attention given to the family. On the contrary, most people find unique protection, nurture, and dynamic energy from their membership in a strong and healthy family founded upon marriage between a man and a woman. Moreover, ample evidence has demonstrated that the best interest of the child is assured in a harmonious family environment in which the education and formation of children develop within the context of lived experience with both male and female parental role models.” 

The family is the fundamental cell of society where the generations meet, love, educate, support each other, and pass on life, through natural means, from age to age, “where we learn to live with others despite our differences and to belong to one another.” This understanding of the family has been embraced throughout history by all cultures. Thus, with good reason the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognized unique, profound, and uncompromising rights and duties for the family founded on marriage between a man and a woman, by declaring as follows:  (1) Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family. They are entitled to equal rights as to marriage, during marriage and at its dissolution.  (2) Marriage shall be entered into only with the free and full consent of the intending spouses.  (3) The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State. 

Archbishop Tomasi concluded by saying:

Mr President, during this historic anniversary observance, the Holy See Delegation firmly maintains that the family is a whole and integral unit, which should not be divided up or subjected to isolation of one or another member – nor should it be marginalized. The family and marriage need to be defended and promoted not only by the State but also by the whole of society. Both require the decisive commitment of every person because it is starting from the family and marriage that a complete answer can be given to the challenges of the present and the risks of the future. This way forward is indicated in the fundamental human rights and related conventions that ensure the universality of these rights and whose binding valus need to be preserved and protected by the international community.

Oral Statement on protection of the family at the 26th Session of the Human Rights Council—Geneva—June 22, 2014

The following statement was made in During the 26^th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva by an organization GLOBAL HAWC (Helping to advance women and children), under AGENDA item 8, ‘Follow up and implementation of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of action’. 

I respectfully address the council on behalf of Global Helping to Advance Women and Children and the UN Family Rights Caucus, an international coalition of NGOs.

Article 16 of the Universal Declaration of Human Right, proclaims that the family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society entitled to “protection by society and the State.”

The Vienna Declaration, in its comprehensive analysis of the international human rights system, also calls for broader family protection since five binding international human rights instruments call for such protection.

Yet until now, the protection of the family has largely been ignored by this Council.

UN consensus documents specify that the family needs to be protected against poverty, disease, substance abuse, unemployment, migration, war, family separation and barriers to reunification, and the worldwide disintegration of the family itself.

We applaud the ongoing dialogue concerning the Protection of the Family resolution, however we are concerned by attempts to change the focus of this historic resolution to individual rights, which numerous other resolutions amply address, rather than focus on the unique role the family plays in fulfilling the rights of its members. 

We hope this council will explore the evidence showing how the rights of individual family members can better be fulfilled when the family is protected.

The UN Secretary General has stated that “the stability and cohesiveness of communities and societies largely rest on the strength of the family” (Secretary General's Family Report 2011 (A/66/62–E/2011/4)).

We call upon States to fulfill their obligations to protect the family. 

Despite the fact that Annie Franklin who made the intervention on behalf of Global HAWC provided 25 copies of the text to the secretariat it was not initially posted as part of the record of the meeting. It was only after three reminders that the text was finally included in the record.

Surrogacy and eggsploitation

Surrogacy has become big business and women in poor countries are being exploited in the process as is evident in recent reports from India surrounding the issue of egg donation, which has also been termed eggsploitation.

Women’s e-news reports that two women have died from causes tied to their role as egg donors in India's booming market for artificial reproduction.

Fertility centers in India (and elsewhere) are clever in their approach and openly invite women in the age group of 25-30 to join them in ‘helping childless couples’. The process is also promoted as an easy way of generating income for women. Neither the morality, nor the possible consequences involved are highlighted to prospective egg donors.

You’ve probably seen them—most of us have. Ads soliciting women to donate their eggs for in vitro fertilization are everywhere: in newspapers, on the Internet, on college campus bulletin boards.

 The procedure is far more problematic than those upbeat ads would ever lead one to believe. The women involved are given hormones to force their bodies to produce far more eggs than they normally would—and that, as you might expect, leads to consequences.

The consequences include strokes, brain damage, internal bleeding, or infertility after the procedure. Some women ended up with cancer, even those who had no family history of the disease. Others nearly died from complications of the surgery done to retrieve the eggs and sadly some also die from hyper-stimulation of the ovaries.

But the problems go beyond that. The women involved in egg donation are being exploited they are being turned into human commodities. They are providing genetic material for their own biological children, whom they may never have a chance to know. If they express any concerns or reservations, they are pressured and even guilt-tripped into continuing.

Young women are often unaware of the risks of egg donation, donors have to take drugs to stimulate egg production, and complications as we have set out may cause future infertility or even death in rare cases.

Women are usually told that egg donation is a safe procedure, when the reality is decidedly unsafe. No young woman should be used in a procedure that jeopardizes her own fertility -- indeed her own life -- in order to line the pockets of those who promote the infertility industry's human egg trade.

The disastrous implications of the practice are set out in a video and can be found on the "Eggsploitation" website

Chile to legalise abortion in certain circumstances

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Chile’s UN Ambassador to Geneva H.E Ms Maria Maurás Pérez announced last Thursday (June 19^th), during consideration of the outcome of Chile’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, that its current its pro-life laws will change and that abortion will be decriminalized in the following circumstances, in the case of rape, where a woman’s life is in danger and when a foetus is not viable.’

Pérez told the meeting that following the election of Michele Bachelet, as Chile’s President and the first 100 days of her Government, Chile would introduce a new gender agenda dealing with the rights equality and autonomy of women and will nominate a minister for women and gender equity. Ms Pérez explained that her government is concerned about violence and discrimination against women and will defend further the sexual and reproductive rights of all persons. Pérez continued by stating that her government will decriminalize termination of pregnancy in three areas, where the life of the mother is in danger, where a foetus is unviable and in the case of rape. Abortion is currently

completely illegal in Chile.

Pérez announced Chile’s commitment to implement 180 of the 185 suggestions in the UPR including a number of proposals put forth by other member states that Chile change its longstanding stance on the protection of the unborn.

Among the five rejected suggestions was the appeal by the Holy See that Chile continue its legal protection of the human person from the moment of conception, and that it safeguard marriage as being between one man and one woman.

The basis of the review was set out in two reports A/HRC/26/5 and 26/5 Addendum1. The main report 26/5 shows that 7 European Countries pressured Chile to repeal all laws criminalizing abortion and to take all necessary measures to ensure so called safe and legal abortion in cases of rape or incest and in cases of serious danger for the health of women and a number of countries also called on Chile to make sure that sexual and reproductive rights are respected and protected.

It is clear from both documents 26/5 and 26/5 Addendum 1 that the intention of the previous government was to reject the pressure from other member states

Marianne Lillebleg for Amnesty International welcomed Chile’s rejection of the Holy See’s recommendation that Chile should uphold and respect the rights of the human person from the moment of conception to natural death, which she falsely claimed, could have placed women’s lives in danger.

Mary Mc Aleese, pot stirring, she does not speak for me!

Further to the recent attack by former Irish President Mary Mc Aleese on the Catholic Church, in which she questioned the relevance of the synod called by Pope Francis to review the Catholic Church's teaching on family life, describing it as ‘Bonkers’, Therese Mc Crystal of Women of Grace for Ireland and Human Life International Ireland, has issued the following press release.

Mary McAleese pot stirring. She does not speak for me!

 

Press Release                                                             18th June 2014

"How dare child-bearing Mary McAleese try to separate the world's Bishops from their mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, nephews, nieces, God children, friends and neighbours," said Therese McCrystal, Director of Human Life International Ireland, and  National Coordinator for "Women of Grace Ireland"

"I am sick of feminist clap-trap.  Mary McAleese - you do not speak on my behalf!    

"I am a woman happy in the Catholic Church in Ireland grieved by your animosity and pot stirring." continued the mother of seven.

These "celibate men" as she speaks of so derogatively have given their lives to serve "The Family" she accuses them of knowing nothing about. Celibate does not mean living in isolation.

I love my Church, my priests and Bishops and have received much help and encouragement from them over the years. 

Dear Bishops of the world - thank you for serving the family.  Please don't stop now at this crucial time!

Many priest and Bishops in my own life have shown great wisdom and knowledge in the realm of the family" she concluded.

Contact   094 9375993  094 9375993         HLI Ireland, KNOCKwww.womenofgraceireland.com             www.humanlife.ie

Pelosi’s attempt to bully Archbishop Cordileone described as, “unmitigated arrogance".

Nancy Pelosi, the prominent Catholic politician and US House of Representatives Minority Leader, in a much publicized lobbying effort attempted along with other local political figures, to pressure San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone to change his mind about participating in an upcoming event in support of marriage, the National Organization for Marriage's June 19 march to the Supreme Court in Washington DC, which Pelosi denigrated by describing it as "venom masquerading as virtue." See reports by the San FranciscoChronicle and Catholic World Report.

Archbishop Cordileone (whose name can be translated as ‘Lionheart’) said in a letter that his duty is “to proclaim the truth—the whole truth—about the human person and God’s will for our flourishing. I must do that in season and out of season, even when truths that it is my duty to uphold and teach are unpopular, including especially the truth about marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife. That is what I will be doing on June 19th.”

He also said that the March for Marriage is “not anti-anyone or anti-anything. Rather, it is a pro-marriage March. … Rather, it affirms the great good of bringing the two halves of humanity together so that a man and a woman may bond with each other and with any children who come from their union.”

Meanwhile the President of the Catholic League Bill Donovan described Pelosi’s attempt to bully Archbishop Cordileone as, “unmitigated arrogance,”

According to Donovan, “Rep. Nancy Pelosi does not simply reject the Catholic Church’s teachings on marriage, abortion, and contraception—she is a rabid foe of the Church’s positions.”

2013 abortion statistics for England and Wales

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The recently released UK abortion statistics for 2013 show a gradual increase, in that the total number of abortions at 185,331 was 0.1% more than in 2012 (185,122) and 2.1% more than in 2003 (181,582).

The age-standardised abortion rate was highest for women aged 22 (at 30 per 1,000). Other recorded rates were15.9 per 1,000 women aged 15-44, the under-18 rate was 11.7 per 1,000 women and the under-16 abortion rate was 2.6 per 1,000 women respectively.

The recently published 2013 statistics also show that for the twelfth consecutive year the number of abortions recorded for women giving Irish addresses has declined from a high of 6,673 Irish abortions in 2001 to  3679 in 2013 representing a reduction of 44.8%. The figures also denote a year on year reduction, down from 3982 in 2012 to the current level of 3679

These reductions are to be welcomed however the fact that the lives of 3679 Irish babies were terminated in 2013 is a tragedy and more must be done to ensure that every baby who is conceived will be brought to birth and welcomed into our society.

Every abortion is an immense human tragedy but the significant drop in numbers travelling to Britain for abortion over the past 12 years is a positive development.

Sadly the introduction of abortion legislation into Ireland while it has not yet come into effect will influence future abortion statistics.

Attitudes, which foster the idea of abortion as any kind of a solution to pregnancy must be firmly rejected and perpetrators and facilitators of this barbaric act who operate under the guise of caring for women, must be exposed.  Abortion is big business.

Paul Tully, General Secretary of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), in a statement said that the abortion statistics reveal once again a huge toll of child-killing, now almost wholly funded by taxpayers. Over 8 million unborn children have now officially been slaughtered under Britain's iniquitous abortion law, the Abortion Act 1967.

"More abortions than ever are now funded by the NHS, and most of them are performed in private clinics by the so-called abortion charities. Nearly 119,000 unborn children were killed in private hospitals in 2013 at taxpayers' expense. A further 62,000 unborn children were killed in NHS hospitals - also at taxpayers' expense.”

The onward march of the Culture of death in the international institutions.

Completing our series on the Nigerian pro-life conference held in Abuja, Nigeria, on June 5th and 6, we report on a presentation by Patrick Buckley, UN lobbyist for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC). 

Mr. Buckley in his presentation, ‘The onward march of the Culture of death in the international institutions’, told the audience of between 1500-2000 people that no United Nations Treaty or Convention includes a right to abortion, on the contrary he said, they uphold the dignity of every human life from conception to natural death.

Photograph shows Patrick Buckley with Antonia Tully and Jean Fleuron  of SPUC

In brief the agenda, aptly named, by St John Paul ii, the “Culture of Death’ attacks the accepted moral code based on natural law and Judaeo Christian principles, it can and does kill the body and it can also kill the soul.

The agenda in the International Institutions attempts to change society by changing sexual and gender norms through the introduction of, so called, ‘sexual and reproductive rights’ and seeks to:

• ·      Reduce population by making contraception available globally.

• ·      Deny the right to life from conception and attempt to declare abortion to be a human right.

• ·      Promote acceptance of diverse sexual activities, sexual orientations and gender identities.

• ·      Attack marriage and the family and undermine parental rights.

• ·      Sexualise young people by insisting on the teaching of so called ‘comprehensive sexuality education’.

• ·      Attack freedom of speech, religion and conscience.

In his 1993 Encyclical Evangelium Vitae (EV 28), Saint John Paul II wrote:

‘(…) we are facing an enormous and dramatic clash between good and evil, death and life, the "culture of death" and the "culture of life". We find ourselves not only "faced with" but necessarily "in the midst of" this conflict: we are all involved and we all share in it, with the inescapable responsibility of choosing to be unconditionally pro-life’.

Pope St. John Paul ii, in response to a demarché from US President Clinton in 2004 saying that the Cairo Conference would create a right to abortion on demand, called for civil society organizations to attend the conference and oppose that agenda, resulting in it being halted.

The Beijing conference in 1995 attempted to put a similar agenda in place but once again the attempt to declare a human right to abortion was halted and the gender agenda also included in the Beijing proposals was stopped.

When the attempts to attain the goal of a human right to abortion through the Cairo and Beijing Conferences, failed there was a high level decision in the UN to change the rules and to find other ways to achieve the complete agenda. Two alternative strategies were developed.

The first was a “stealth strategy” which commenced at a round table meeting in Glen Cove, New York in 1996. Participants from UNFPA the UN Population Fund, the office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights, representatives from the UN human rights treaty monitoring bodies and select NGOs met and developed a strategy to reinterpret existing treaties in order to find a so called 'right’ to abortion-on-demand, in universally accepted norms, such as the right to life.

The second strategy used by the pro-abortionists was that of attempting to establish customary international law by constant repetition of concepts such as ‘sexual and reproductive rights’.

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Both strategies failed to achieve their goal of abortion on demand.

Mr. Buckley told the meeting that we are entering into very challenging times in that a number of UN multi year programmes are coming to an end at the end of 2014 and 2015. The original ICPD (CAIRO) programme ends at the end of this year, 2014 and both the Beijing programme and the Millennium Development Goals finish at the end of 2015. The UN is therefore in the process of arranging the extension of these programmes and at the same time debating a new 15 year programme, which will be known as the ‘Sustainable Development Goals’ or SDG’s. Attempts are currently underway to include the entire culture of death agenda in the SDG’s

In a way he said, this period is rather like the time in 1994 when Saint JP ii called Civil Society together to oppose the agenda.

UNFPA and its associates including IPPF and IPAS carried out a review to determine what is standing in the way of implementing their complete agenda which involves abortion on demand, so called sexual rights, and comprehensive sexuality education for minors. They then developed a new plan to remove the obstacles and fully implement their agenda.

Briefly they identified the Holy See as the major obstacle standing in the way of their agenda and they decided to prioritize the sexualization of adolescents and youth.

The new approach can be seen in action when one looks at the recent attacks on the Holy See by both the Committee on the Rights of the Child and the Committee on torture, which are a blatant attempt to isolate and silence the Holy See at a critical time in order to ensure their deadly agenda is accepted.

The new approach can also be identified through the seemingly never-ending series of regional meetings on youth held at various venues throughout the world such as the UNFPA, UN ECA and African Union Commission meeting Addis Ababa in 2013, which published the Addis Ababa Declaration on Population and Development in Africa beyond 2014, The Colombo Declaration on Youth Mainstreaming in the Post-2015 Development Agenda’and the Bali Global Youth Forum Declaration December 2012, to name but a few.

Mr. Buckley then turned to the issue of Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE), which he described as a highly controversial, rights-based approach to sex education that encompasses much more than simply teaching children and youth about sexual intercourse and human reproduction.

CSE he said encourages:

•            Acceptance and exploration of diverse sexual orientation and gender identities,

•            Promotion of the use of condoms,

•            Promotion of abortion as acceptable and safe,

•            Encourages youth to advocate for sexual rights,

•            Teaches youth without parental knowledge or consent under the guise of confidentiality or      privacy rights,

•            Promotion of sexual pleasure as a right,

•            Promotion of masturbation as healthy and normal,

•            Claims that access to CSE is a human right,

•            Teaches children and youth they are sexual from birth,

•            Encourages sexual activities too disgusting to mention,

•            Encourages peer-to-peer sexuality education.

Comprehensive sexuality education is completely unacceptable, it is pornographic, it damages young people and robs them of their childhood.

Mr. Buckley finished by making a strong and urgent appeal to the international community to stand firm in the face of these attacks. He told the conference that we cannot let them win, because what we are dealing with is actually the lives of the children of this and succeeding generations, our children and our grandchildren.

Children, he said, have a right to a child hood and programmes like this are completely unacceptable.

Standing ovation by Nigerian Bishops for UK pro-life leader's tough words

Continuing our series on the Nigerian pro-life conference held in Abuja, Nigeria, on June 5^th and 6, we report that Nigeria's Catholic bishops gave John Smeaton chief executive of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), a standing ovation following his address tough words at a dinner at the end of the first day of the conference which was organised by the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria.

Mr. Smeaton praised Nigeria's pro-family culture saying:

[…] “Nigeria’s true wealth […] can be found in its fertility rate, which is more than five children per woman of child-bearing age, in contrast to the UK's rate of less than two. That’s why many politicians and institutions in powerful Western nations are afraid of Nigeria and want to interfere with laws and policies which affect women and children in particular."

Referring to the Nigeria's Catholic bishops Mr. Smeaton said:

"Nigeria's wealth is also reflected in the moral leadership given by Catholic Church leaders in Nigeria. Your opposition in 2010 to the African Union’s pro-abortion Maputo Protocol, led by His Eminence John Onaiyekan, the cardinal archbishop of Abuja, reverberated around the world ... Earlier this year, you, the Catholic bishops of Nigeria publicly thanked Goodluck Jonathan, Nigeria's president, for signing into law the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill, 2011".

Mr Smeaton continued:

"As a pro-life leader, as a Catholic parent, I am very grateful to the Nigerian Catholic Bishops for your defence of our families. You are following the example of St. Charles Lwanga and his companions. Standing up against the worldwide homosexual agenda is crucial for the protection of children and it is a fundamental pro-life issue. Bishops around the world should follow the Nigerian bishops' lead and speak out for strong policies against the subversion of the truth and meaning of human sexuality."

Warning again about Western interference in Africa, Mr. Smeaton said:

"The British Prime Minister, David Cameron has threatened to withhold UK aid from poor countries that do not conform saying in connection with the homosexual rights agenda, and I quote: 'British aid should have more strings attached'." Just a few weeks ago, last April, Nigeria’s permanent representative at the UN, Ambassador Joy Ogwu, came under attack from International Planned Federation for opposing abortion on behalf of the Nigerian delegation at the UN."

Pointing out that "the pro-life movement cannot defeat the culture of death on our own", Mr Smeaton called for:

"pro-life organizations and the wider community [to] be fortified by unequivocal, unyielding voices of Catholic Church officials and bishops throughout the world. I implore all Catholic bishops throughout the world to speak out clearly and categorically that politicians who vote for and publicly support abortion legislation must publicly retract and refute the position they have adopted before receiving Jesus Christ in Holy Communion".

Mr Smeaton observed that:

"many leaders of faithful Christian and pro-life, pro-family organizations have found" absoluteness "severely lacking in Catholic leadership today ... In its place we have weakness and compromise."

This lack of absoluteness on the teaching of Humanae Vitae (Pope Paul VI's encyclical against contraception) has had a negative impact on the pro-life fight, because "the use of contraception undermines respect for the sanctity of human life from conception and makes abortion an option", said Mr. Smeaton.

Nigerian Pro-Life Conference interventions: Bishop Badejo and Archbishop Obinna.

The Catholic Bishop of Oyo, Emmanuel Ade Badejo, in a very strong statement in support of marriage during the International pro-life conference in Abuja Nigeria, said that it is only the union of a man and a woman that constitutes a family

“Such a union is the only source of procreation consented to man by God”.

Bishop Badejo in the presentation titled: “Social Communication Channels for the Gospel of Life in Nigeria,” emphasized that there is an “undeniable nexus between this kind of family and human life. Everyone who believes in God must appreciate this fact.”

 “Much resources and funds are today invested in programmes and activities which undermine the family and human life some of which are promoting contraception, abortion and gay unions”. 

Its no good sitting down and weeping about the situation, he said. 

A change is not going to come by chance. We need massive investment of effort and resources and an effective campaign strategy to reeducate the populace towards a new appreciation of the Gospel of life and family values. Everyone must be persuaded to support this campaign to stem the tide of decadent, selfish western culture.

The Catholic Archbishop of Owerri, Imo State, the Most Rev. Anthony Obinna in his presentation said there was the need for consolidating and scaling-up pro-life activism in Nigeria.

Its no good sitting down and weeping about the situation, he said. 

A change is not going to come by chance. We need massive investment of effort and resources and an effective campaign strategy to reeducate the populace towards a new appreciation of the Gospel of life and family values. Everyone must be persuaded to support this campaign to stem the tide of decadent, selfish western culture

Archbishop Obinna began his address by quoting from the Post-Synodal document on the Church in Africa signed by Pope now St John Paul ii.

In African culture and tradition the role of the family is everywhere held to be fundamental. Open to the sense of the family, of love and respect for life, the African loves children, who are joyfully welcomed as gifts of God (Ecclesia in Africa, no. 43)

Archbishop Obinna in a written statement also said ‘In the face of atheist, seculrist and gender ideologies contrary to the Catholic pro-life, pro-family position, which are aggressively exported from Europe and America, and equally promoted by some Nigerians in public offices, the Catholic Church in Nigeria has for a number of years embarked upon pro-life activities in favour of family and life in general to ward off anti-life ideologies and practices.

Archbishop Obinna referred to the legal battle against abortion in the Imo House of Assembly. A close study he said of the bill for a law on certain reproductive rights for women showed that it was not only meant to promote abortion but also to promote free sex and promiscuity on the part of women. Sexuality was totally dissociated from responsible married family life with the encouragement of free “choice of method of fertility control and family planning”.  It was also established that members of Planned Parenthood International had sponsored the bill which was ultimately defeated

Abortion Guidelines

Kitty Holland had a report, 'No guidelines drawn up on abortion despite Act, says watchdog', in The Irish Times, Friday, June 6, 2014, p. 9.
The 'watchdog' in question is the Irish Council for Civil Liberties. Here are some paragraphs from the report:

A committee was established last autumn by the Department of Health to draw up clinical guidelines on how to implement the Act. It includes representatives from the department, the Health Service Executive, the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the College of Psychiatrists, the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Surgeons.

Guidelines
"However, information on the work of the committee has been publicly unavailable and it has yet to issue a report or publish clinical guidelines," says the ICCL.
    The committee has not met since January and no guidelines have been drawn up, according to a senior source. It is understood the delay is partly because a training programme for obstetricians and psychiatrists, on the issue, has not yet been established.
    It is thought moves will be made in coming weeks, to establish a training programme. The College of Psychiatrists and College of General Practitioners have raised concern at the absence of guidelines.

 Comment
The Minister for Health signed the legislation into law in January and it is understood that no abortions will be carried out in Ireland until the proposed guidelines are in place. On That basis it seems clear that in order to protect the lives of unborn babies the longer the period in which no guidelines exist the better. In the meantime pro-life organisations are still considering how best to overturn the anti life legislation.
The recent local and European elections have shown that the electorate are not happy about the actions of the Government parties on many fronts including the pro-life issue and have moved en masse away from the Labour party whilst at the same time punishing the Fine Gael Party.
Many of the new County Councillors throughout the country are pro-life but sadly the other pro-abortion party Sinn Fein were also a major beneficary of the anger of the electorate.
    

Nigerian Pro-Life Conference Day 2

The pro-life conference organized by the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria continued on Friday June 6^th with a keynote presentation by Congressman Chris Smith from the United States who told the meeting that as a member of Congress he like the Catholic Bishops believes that we have a profound moral duty to protect the weakest and most vulnerable from all existential threats. The right to life he said ‘the most basic of all human rights applies regardless of race, color, creed, sex, religion, disability, age, stage of development or condition of dependency, including unborn children.’

Congressman Smith continued by making a strong statement condemning the actions of Boko Haram in Nigeria with a particular focus on their abduction of the Nigerian schoolgirls and then turned to a number of other issues.

Smith told the gathering that when it comes to reducing maternal mortality, ‘it has been known for more than 60 years what actually saves women’s lives: skilled birth attendants, treatment to stop haemorrages, access to safe blood, antibiotics, repair of fistulas, and a venue or clinic to provide emergency obstetric care.’

The World Health Organization statistics he said show, a reduction of 52% for maternal mortality in Nigeria since 1990 but that much more needs to be done.

He then spoke of the need for each of us to promote and establish a genuine culture of life. He said that African Nations including Nigeria are under siege by the abortion industry and its numerous NGOs including IPAS, Planned Parenthood, Marie Stopes International, Centre for Reproductive Rights, many western governments including the Obama administration and UN agencies like UNFPA.

Someday, Smith told the conference;

future generations will look back on the United States and wonder how and why such a seemingly enlightened society, so blessed and endowed with education, advanced science, information, wealth and opportunity could have systematically enabled the dismemberment or chemical poisoning of millions of children. They he said, like many of us today, will be outraged knowing that the United States and others chose to export and integrate the culture of death with essential foreign aid and humanitarian assistance. 

Nigerian Pro-Life Conference

An International pro-life conference organised by the  Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria commenced this morning Thursday June 5th with a pro-life march led by the 10 Bishops who attended the conference.
The conference venue is the National Christian (Ecumenical) Centre in Abuja and the theme of International conference is 'Witnessing to the dignity of every human life'.

The Keynote address was given by His Grace the Most Reverend Ignatius Kaigama, Archbishop of Jos and President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria.
Archbishop Kaigama told the meeting that in today's world, ' human life and the enduring values of human dignity, sancity of marriage and family life have become grossly diminished by ideologies, politicians, religious extremists and buisnessmen and businesswomen.' 'Regrettably' he said, 'human life has become cheaper than a loaf of bread'.

Archbishop Kaigama went on to say:

The situational ethic which tolerates the killing of unborn babies in the serenity of their mothers' wombs extends also to justify the murdering of other people depending on their sex, race, nationality, ethnicity, economic status, age or health condition. Are we not indundated by the loss of human lives through millions of abortions, partial birth abortions, the use of abortion causing contraceptives, sex selective abortions, abandonment of the old or terminally ill etc.. In fact the litiny of antagonistic activities against life is endless.

Other speakers today included Dr Philip Njemanze, Andrew Dernovsek and Sir David Osunde in the first session. Session 2 speakers included Bishop Badejo, Dr Henrietta Williams and Lisa Morris
Session 3 speakers included Bishop Kukah, Sr Mc Sweene, an Theresa Okafor
Day two of the conference includes speakers such as Congressman Chris Smith. We will report further on this conference and report on some of the other presentations.

All Ireland Rally For Life

This year the all Ireland Rally for Life will take place on Saturday, 5 July 2014 in BELFAST

Mission

The mission in previous years was to keep Ireland abortion-free. Sadly we now have to say that the mission for the future must be to overturn the anti life legislation passed by the Irish Government last year in the South of Ireland whilst at the same time doing all we can to protect unborn life in Northern Ireland.

You are invited to join thousands of people every year to Celebrate Life in the All Ireland Rally for Life!

Comment

In his 1993 Encyclical Evangelium Vitae (EV 28), Saint John Paul II wrote:

‘(…) we are facing an enormous and dramatic clash between good and evil, death and life, the "culture of death" and the "culture of life". We find ourselves not only "faced with" but necessarily "in the midst of" this conflict: we are all involved and we all share in it, with the inescapable responsibility of choosing to be unconditionally pro-life’.

Every year, millions of unborn children are aborted throughout the world we must heed the words of our newest Saint Pope John Paul ii and keep rallying for life until every life is protected.