Into the Sucide Room

H/t to Witness to Love for this news report The whole film is obviously intended to present a positive picture of assisted suicide, with close-ups of a candle in a corner and the bed for the suicide to lie on made up with colourful linen. However, it still makes chilling viewing and I agree with Witness that the suicide assistant's smile is 'eerily revealing'. It is appalling to imagine that there are campaigners in Britain and across Europe trying to legalise this appalling trade in despair. That is what it is. Organisations that help people commit suicide thrive on despair and a cosy-looking room cannot distract attention from that fact.

Holy See Critical of UN Population Reduction Mentality

In a hard hitting speech to the United Nations, International Commission on population and Development (ICPD+ 15) Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the UN, strongly criticized the "population reduction" mentality evident in the conference preparatory documents

The Archbishop commenced by pointing out that the preparatory documents for the conference were influenced by a strongly anti-life attitude, "In reading the preparatory documents for this session of the Commission one cannot help but get the impression that populations are seen as the hindrance to greater social and economic development rather than vital contributors to the success of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and greater sustainable development," he said.

Archbishop Migliore also said that 15 years ago"many demographic experts and politicians" were forecasting an apocalyptic vision of a "population explosion." Nevertheless he continued, "now, fifteen years later, the population growth has begun to slow, food production continues to rise to the point where it is capable of supporting a larger global population and is even being diverted to the production of fuel." “It is almost ironic” according to the Archbishop,” that environmental destruction is perpetrated primarily by States with lower growth rates and that developed countries are supporting population growth at home while simultaneously working to reduce it in developing countries."

The Archbishop continued “the increased birth rates in Africa over the last decades have been identified by experts as lowering the elderly dependency ratio and presenting the population with a plentiful workforce capable of providing the Continent with an unprecedented advantage in economic terms over regions whose ageing populations show growing economic challenges. To capitalize on this opportunity, for Africa and ultimately for the whole world, greater commitment must be made to provide economic assistance and investment in human capital and infrastructure to support economic growth. Consequently, additional funding programs which focus upon lowering population growth rather than fostering an environment for development will slow, not expedite, the achievement of the MDGs.”

A Doctor Writes

Idle Speculations carries a letter published in The Times of London penned by Baroness Findlay, a member of the House of Lords and a professor. However, she writes the letter from the perspective of a doctor commenting 'from the coal face' about assisted suicide.

Assisted suicide is fine in a perfect world. We don't live (or die) in one

A doctor's job is to treat the sick and relieve pain. That cannot be squared with helping the terminally ill to end their lives

A most grotesque lie

I am coming across more and more situations during my pro-life lobbying where supporters of abortion say things that are so utterly grotesque that they barely warrant a response at all. This particularly horrific lie comes courtesy of Dwight Longenecker's blog and involves an Episcopal lady priest preaching 'abortion is a blessing.' Not a necessary evil or an unfortunate necessity or any of the usual lies the abortion lobby come up with, but a blessing.

I have mixed feelings about using images of aborted babies, but in this case I felt moved to share the reality of abortion with anyone who might be in doubt about the true nature of this so-called 'blessing.'

Abortion kills mothers and their babies

Catholic Action UK carries a stark reminder about precisely how safe 'safe, legal abortion' is for women. A Marie Stopes abortion facility is facing the possibility of prosecution after a 15-year-old girl was discharged 45 minutes after an abortion and died of a heart attack on her way to hospital five days later. The 'help' she received from the facility prior to her tragic death was to be recommended Ibuprofen.

The abortion lobby propagates the lie that legal abortion is safe for women. Just the other day, I heard a spokeswoman from Marie Stopes up against a colleague of mine in a debate, claiming that Marie Stopes 'protected women around the world from unsafe abortions'. How exactly did they protect Alesha Thomas? How do they protect the women whose babies they abort, who go on to develop physical and psychological complications the abortion lobby will not even admit to causing?