New series of pro-abortion ‘Masterclasses’ to be held in NUI Maynooth

Following hard on the heels of Ireland’s recently approved abortion legislation the Health Services Executive (HSE) Crisis Pregnancy Programme (formerly the Crisis Pregnancy Agency) has announced another series of masterclasses supposedly for the support of an unplanned pregnancies but which focuses on abortion under the title termination of pregnancy. 

The so-called masterclasses have been arranged in conjunction with the Department of Adult Education at NUI Maynooth.

The HSE is now under the direction of Tony O’Brien a former Chief Executive of the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA), which is an affiliate of International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), one of the largest abortion providers in the World.

Two of the masterclasse sessions 1 and 2, dealing with counselling and advanced counselling skills will be held in both Maynooth and Cork whilst sessions 3 and 4 dealing with terminations and ethics respectively will be held in Maynooth only

It is particularly distressing that these masterclasses are to be held in a University, which for many generations was renowned as a Catholic University and prepared young men for the priesthood.

A peaceful protest was held in Maynooth when the first series of masterclasses took place in 2011.    As the organisers refused to allow any of the pro-life people to attend the event, or even to get within any decent proximity of the meeting-room, it was then decided to enter the campus – carrying posters and placards – and circle the building peacefully three times.

That demonstration by pro-lifers consisted of an impressive crowd of young and old defenders of the unborn who stood on both sides of the main road that runs past an entrance to the National University of Ireland at Maynooth, Co. Kildare, for about two hours – in the sometimes very heavy rain.

Details of the classes are set out below

Masterclass 1

The Law and Crisis Pregnancy Counselling

18 October 2013, 10am – 4.30pm – Maynooth 28 February 2014, 10am – 4.30pm – Cork city This Masterclass will explore the complex area of law and crisis pregnancy with particular emphasis on minors. The legal responsibilities concerning crisis pregnancy issues will be covered while simultaneously recognising the need to provide the best care for the client. Jenny Bulbulia BL will address the legal issues and Anne McCarthy will facilitate the group to explore the implications of the law for their practice.

Masterclass 2

Advanced Counselling skills

25 October 2013, 10am – 4.30pm – Maynooth 24 January 2014, 10am – 4.30pm – Cork city This Masterclass provides an opportunity

to explore and practice counseling and therapeutic skills in crisis pregnancy with

a focus on boundaries, contract setting, trauma and informed decision making. Participants will build on the skill of listening deeply to the client’s needs and concerns while mindful of the legal, social and cultural context. Anne McCarthy, who leads the crisis pregnancy counseling skills course at NUI Maynooth, will lead the day.

Masterclass 3

Termination: Dealing with complex issues

21 February 2014, 10am – 4.30pm – Maynooth

The experience of termination of pregnancy is rarely if ever discussed by women or

by the wider society. Professionals will be offered an opportunity to explore and reflect on the complex issues concerning termination of pregnancy. Sherie de Burgh, One Family will present this Masterclass. Sherie has many years of experience

with clients regarding pregnancy and parenting and has considerable knowledge, compassion and empathy for all concerned.

Masterclass 4

Ethics and supervision

06 June 2014, 10am – 4.30pm – Maynooth

This Masterclass provides an opportunity to explore the complex dilemmas that working with personally distressing and culturally sensitive issues can raise. Professor Tim Bond, a leading writer in this field of ethics and counselling, will create a space for informed and open conversation to enhance participants’ understanding and to address issues encountered by practitioners in the field of crisis pregnancy counseling.

Results of teenage sexual encounters

An Irish newspaper proclaims the extraordinary conclusion that ‘Sex too early creates risk of disease and pregnancy’.     Disease and pregnancy – in the same breath?  

The so-called ‘Crisis Pregnancy Programme’ (formerly known as the ‘Crisis Pregnancy Agency’ but now incorporated into the Health Service Executive – well known for its practice of bringing pregnant Irish girls in its ‘care’ to the UK and elsewhere for the purpose of having their unborn babies aborted) has launched an initiative to encourage young people not to engage in sexual practices too early.    

If they are successful with their initiative the CPP people think that they might prevent young people from contracting a sexually transmitted disease – or they might even succeed in preventing a ‘crisis pregnancy’.   The acting director of the CPP is reported as saying that: 

‘Young people who experience first sexual intercourse before 17 years of age are 70 per cent more likely to experience crisis pregnancy in their lifetime, three times more likely to report having a STI and three times more likely to experience abortion.’     

It is doubtful if the CPP would consider promoting chastity amongst young people.

The Irish Minister for Children is reported as saying that it is necessary to ensure that ‘parents, teachers and youth workers are supported in taking an effective role in delivering relationships and sexuality education.’   In its annual report for 2010 the CPP expresses its concern at ‘barriers to the full implementation of the Relationship and Sex Education (RSE) in schools’, and it will soon be publishing a report on a project on ‘the knowledge and attitudes of the Irish population to contraception’.

The CPP is also the agency that promotes contraception, and in its literature it offers abortion as a ‘positive option’ to those who find themselves unintentionally pregnant