March for Life Brussels March 27th

Please mark in your diaries that this years March for Life in Brussels on March 27^th. This will be the second annual march for life and more details can be found on this link .

 Paul Van Oldenberg reports that last years march for life was a beautiful success! 

We received hundreds of e-mails from people deeply touched by our peaceful loving March.  (Some who were passing by, and some who had read about us in the news.)

They saw young smiling faces in Love with Life and thousands of red and white roses with white banners. The banners reached to woman with the slogan “Women deserve better than Abortion”.

Women wrote to us and thanked us with all their hearts for having the courage to speak up for them about the pain of their abortions and open a door so they now had the courage to talk about it and seek healing and peace. Also since last year many students and young people have gotten involved and many new Pro Life student groups have started.

 This year we have even more buses of young people coming from the surrounding countries and from within Belgium. Young people and people of all ages and nationalities are invited to come and join in solidarity on the respect of Human life and women who bare it and society who should protect it.

 Our Goal is to bring awareness in a loving peaceful way on all life issues and bring dialogue to the Media and to our Governments. We are a New Generation for a Culture and Society for Life in all its stages! We love our countries and our women and abortion is deeply wounding both.

 These are very difficult issues, and so many now have been affected or touched by them in some way and reaching this life work can only be done with love and compassion and not judgment of those involved…..but with a courage to judge the damaging effects on society as a whole. We must let our compassion and love for the woman and girls, for the sick and elderly and disabled, of our countries overcome our fear to speak the truth so that our cultures are ones where life is protected and respected from the beginning to natural end.

Please support the march with your prayers and join it if you are able.

Gardasil Vaccine new update

Gardasil is in the news once again!   As at February 2011, more than 300 adverse reactions to the vaccine were reported to the Irish Medicines Board. We have covered this issue many times  see previous BLOG

    

Gardasil is being administered to young Irish schoolgirls – three doses in all for every child entering second-level education – with the message that this will guard them against cervical cancer.     What is not emphasised to these children and, more particularly, to their parents, is the fact that the vaccine is actually to protect against HPV (Human Papilloma Virus), which is a sexually transmitted disease, and which can lead to cervical cancer.   So the truth is not being told to gullible parents, and their children are being subjected to a dangerous vaccine.    Are Irish parents aware of the dangers of this vaccine, and also are they aware of the implication that their daughters will be involved in sexual activity before they reach the end of their time in school?   

Some of the adverse reactions reported, following doses of the vaccine, are ‘malaise, headache, dizziness, syncope [fainting], fatigue, skin and injection site reactions and gastrointestinal symptoms’.   There were also four reports of seizures (two relating to epilepsy), ‘as well as four reports of anaphylactic-type reactions’.   How long will it be before the death of a girl is reported (as has already happened in the U.S.)

Illegal promotion of assisted suicide and euthanasia

It is a sad day for Ireland when the national broadcasting service – RTÉ (Radio Telefis Éireann) – actively promotes suicide and euthanasia on a weekly ‘entertainment’ show.    Last year (17 March and 9 March), I blogged on the visit to Ireland by the Australian ‘Dr.’ Philip Nietschke, and the unsuccessful attempt that was made to prevent him from conducting his suicide ‘workshop’ in Dublin.  When he came here again earlier this year, a representative protest was mounted outside the premises in a Dublin north inner-city laneway where he was conducting one of his ‘workshops’ on how to end one’s life.    Numerous phone calls were made to the office of the Garda (police) Commissioner, pointing out that euthanasia and assisted suicide are illegal in Ireland, and the Commissioner was requested to take appropriate action to stop the event taking place.

On Friday last Dr. Nietschke was a guest on the popular Late Late Show, when he spoke about how he makes it possible for people to kill themselves, or to help other people to do so.   He gave the impression that he pursues this work out of compassion, and he considers that people who have a wish to end their lives should be allowed to do so legally.   He wants to work towards changing the law against euthanasia, and at one point – encouraged by the presenter of the programme – he demonstrated the ‘deliverance machine’ that he uses for the purpose of his work.  He holds that when people receive the lethal doses required to kill them they can then live ‘very happy lives’ (seems a bit of a contradiction) in the knowledge that at any time they can avail of the drugs.    One gentleman in the audience (obviously known to the euthanasia advocate) spoke emotionally about the deteriorating physical condition of his wife, and about how he and she were agreed that at some point he would be willing to contribute to her death.

A number of brave people present, however, tackled Dr. Nietschke about what he is doing, but he didn’t like this at all and in fact became quite aggressive.   At one point, when a palliative doctor in a Dublin hospice spoke about the care given to terminally-ill patients there, Dr. Nietschke laughed and said that she should realise that euthanasia is being widely practised in Ireland.

Euthanasia is illegal in Ireland, and numerous phone calls to the RTÉ television headquarters over last weekend emphasised this fact and also the horror that RTÉ should be responsible for giving publicity to a man who is actively involved in the killing of human beings.

New Programme for Government

Following the recent elections in Ireland, a Coalition Government deal having been agreed between the Fine Gael and the Labour Parties a programme for a ‘Government for National Recovery 2011-2016’ has been drawn up.   It covers many aspects of national government, including fiscal policies, reform of government, etc.  Despite the assurances given to the pro-life movement by Fine Gael many aspects of the programme have caused alarm. Although the entire programme merits reading, I would like to offer the following few extracts for particular attention:

Constitutional Reform –

‘We will … give priority to the following specific constitutional amendments: …

‘A referendum to amend the Constitution to ensure that children’s rights are strengthened, along the lines recommended by the All-Party Oireachtas committee.’

Broader constitutional review –

‘… Provision for same-sex marriage.

‘Amending the clause on women in the home and encourage greater participation of women in public life.

‘Removing blasphemy from the Constitution. …’

Bioethics –

‘We will legislate to clarify the law surrounding assisted human reproduction including the law relating [to] parental relationships arising from assisted human reproduction.

‘We will legislate to regulate stem cell research.

‘We acknowledge the recent ruling of the European Court of Human Rights subsequent to the established ruling of the Irish Supreme Court on the X-case.  We will establish an expert group to address this issue, drawing on appropriate medical and legal expertise with a view to making recommendations to Government on how this matter should be properly addressed. …

‘We will legislate to change the [sic] organ donation to an opt-out system for organ transplantation, rather than an opt in system so as to improve the availability of organs for patients in desperate need.’

Patronage [in relation to schools] –

‘We will initiate a time-limited Forum on Patronage and Pluralism in the Primary Sector to allow all stakeholders including parents to engage in open debate on change of patronage in communities where it is appropriate and necessary.  The Forum will have concise terms of reference and will sit for a maximum of 12 months.

‘The Forum’s recommendations will be drawn up into [a] White Paper for consideration and implementation by Government to ensure that [the] education system can provide [a] sufficiently diverse number of schools, catering for all religions and none.

‘We will give parents and local communities the opportunity to have a say in the patronage of existing and future schools, for example by direct ballot.

‘We will also move towards a more pluralist system of patronage at second level, recognising a wider number of patrons.

‘People of non-faith or minority religious backgrounds and publically [sic] identified LGBT people should not be deterred from training or taking up employment as teachers in the State.’

Children, Families and Older People –

‘We will fundamentally reform the delivery of child protection services by removing child welfare and protection from the HSE  [Health Service Executive] and creating a dedicated Child Welfare and Protection Agency, reforming the model of service delivery and improving accountability to the Dáil [parliament].  …

‘We will enact legislation to amend tax and social welfare law in respect of civil partnerships.  We will amend the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabiting Couples Act 2010 to address any anomalies or omissions, including those relating to children.

‘Our tax, social welfare and other laws should not discourage people from getting married or cohabiting.  For example, single mothers lose the One Parent Family Payment if they marry.  Over time, we will transform it into a family income-based payment that does not discourage marriage or work.

‘We will modernise and reform outdated elements of family law.  We will enact legislation to consolidate and reform the law on adoption.

‘We will complete and implement the National Positive Ageing Strategy so that older people are recognised, supported and enabled to live independent full lives. …’

[Note: additions to the original text are within square brackets.]

I think we should be very afraid of what is in store for Ireland now.   We need to be very alert, and we need to hold Fine Gael firmly to the promises that they made to pro-life and pro-family groups prior to the election, particularly given the fact that the number of Labour Dáil deputies is less than  half of the number of Fine Gael deputies.    There is also reference in this Labour-driven programme to the eradification of 'homophobic bullying' in schools (all bullying is wrong), so it appears that the homosexual and secular lobbies now have a firm grip on the way in which Ireland is heading.  Unless, of course, we can do something about that.'

Acting according to or forsaking of conscience

A colleague of mine came across a collection of ‘quotable quotes’ that she had used nearly twenty years ago when organising public meetings to promote the pro-life message.   Here is a sample of those quotes:

‘In the context of the assertion by the Minister of State […] that there is no matter of conscience involved in voting for the European Union Treaty, one may recall a passage in Robert Bolt’s play, “A Man for all Seasons” which deals with the trial of Thomas More on a charge of high treason for refusing the oath of supremacy as being against his conscience.

‘More’s friend, the Duke of Norfolk, who had gone along with the majority in supporting the oath and the Act of Succession, appeals to More: “Can’t you do what I did, and come with us, for fellowship?”

‘To this More replies: “And when we stand before God, and you are sent to Paradise for doing according to your conscience, and I am damned for not doing according to mine, will you come with me, for fellowship?”’

[letter to newspaper, 1992]

‘Like another illustrious lawyer in another hour of crisis in the long history of our Europe, Mr. Justice Rory O’Hanlon has been “the king’s good servant, but God’s first”.  O si sic omnes.’

[letter to newspaper, 1992]

Quoting from ‘A Man for all Seasons’, when Cardinal Wolsey tries to browbeat St. Thomas into agreeing to King Henry VIII’s divorce he asks how can St. Thomas obstruct the King’s wishes for the sake of his private conscience?  Cardinal Wolsey puts it to St. Thomas – ‘If only you’d look facts flat on, without that horrible moral squint.  Oh, your conscience is your own affair, Thomas, but you’re a statesman.’  

St. Thomas replies: ‘Well, I believe that when a statesman forsakes his own private conscience for the sake of his public duty, he leads his country by a short road to chaos.’

 
Perhaps at this time, more than ever before, we should ask St. Thomas More, patron saint of politicians, to guide our politicians and legislation