Various peaceful pro-life and other demonstrations

REMINDER – peaceful protest about the closure of the Irish Embassy to the Holy See.

The event will take place at: Dáil Éireann, Kildare Street, Dublin 2,

                                              from 2pm to 4 pm,

                                              on Thursday, 8 December

                                             (Feast of the Immaculate Conception)

We hope to see you there!

Sunday Dec 11th and Monday December 12th.
A group of friends who have met for years in St. Teresa's Church Clarendon St. Dublin. 2, praying for the dignity of life at all stages and not affiliated to any group, have organized a number of initiatives in the run up to Christmas:

(see attached flyers Dec 11th and 12th) through your contacts  / groups
 and place these initiatives in your parish newsletters / include them in this weekend's Mass announcements?


Three Gospel of Life Initiatives: For more info: call: 086 2097330

Sunday December 11th 2011
(1): Jericho prayer walk:  Sunday prayer walk for the Vigil of Our Lady of Guadalupe: Gathering at the Dáil Kildare St. D.2: 2.30pm: From 3-6pm: walking in quiet prayer, 7 times around the block to include: Merrion Square, St. Stephen’s Green and Nassau St. Praying for our public representatives, Ireland and for protection of the child in the womb.


Monday December 12th 2011:
(2): Pro Life Mini Vigil: Monday adoration in honour of Our Lady of Guadalpupe: Blessed Sacrament Chapel Bachelor’s Walk D. 2, (near Ha'penny Bridge). 3pm Guided Divine Mercy Pro Life Holy Hour, 4pm silent adoration, 5.15pm Holy Mass.

followed by:

(3):Non-denominational Silent Candlelit Walk of Solidarity with the Unborn to Dail Eireann:

“ Unto us a Child is Born?...Gone but not Forgotten...”.

from 6pm Daniel O’ Connell Statue Lr. O’ Connell St.D.1, to the Dáil, Kildare St. D.2, 7pm Guest speakers at Dáil.

 

Irish woman almost dies from botched abortion: Abortionist struck off

There were various news reports last Saturday on the case of an Irishwoman who was left "fighting for her life" after a botched abortion at London abortion clinic. see this link and this link

The case, which occurred in 2006, emerged as part of a Fitness to Practise Inquiry by the UK General Medical Council into the conduct of a gynaecologist Dr Phanuel Dartey, who was struck off for his treatment of five patients -- including that of the botched abortion -- at the Marie Stopes International Clinic in Ealing.

The inquiry was told that Dartey perforated the uterus of the unidentified Irish woman and left parts of her aborted baby inside her. When she returned to Ireland she was rushed to hospital where she was in a critical condition for two months. It is believed she eventually recovered.

The Ghanaian surgeon, who qualified in the former Soviet Union and did not attend the hearing had no valid medical indemnity insurance at the time.

It is also reported that Marie Stopes Reproductive Choices manager in Dublin, Gabrielle Malone, confirmed that the Ealing clinic was among the recommended facilities on a list given to Irish women seeking pregnancy "counselling". (It should be noted that referral for termination is illegal in Ireland so the fiction of counselling is used by agencies to remain within the letter, if not the spirit of the law .)

Ms Malone also claimed that Marie Stopes clinics had an excellent record and the Dartey case was an isolated one. This claim is in keeping with the notion that abortion where it is legal is supposed to be safe, needless to say it is never safe for the unfortunate baby but in addition such claims are suspect in the light of the generally available evidence but in particular the evidence presented in the European Court of Human Rights, A,B and C v Ireland Case, Grand Chamber Judgement last year, which sets out that the three women in this case all suffered medical complications following abortions in Britain.

According to Ms Malone 498 Irishwomen had abortions at the Ealing centre last year. The number of Irishwomen having abortions in the UK and elsewhere has been falling for nine years, but 4,402 had terminations last year. It would be interesting to discover what percentage of these women suffer some level of medical complications quite apart from the well documented Psychological problems which arise for the vast majority of women who decide to terminate the life of a baby.

Chen Guangcheng alive

I have blogged before about the brave opponent of China's one child policy Chen Guangcheng and also previously
Christian Newswire reports that a reliable source inside China told Women's Rights Without Frontiers that forced abortion opponent Chen Guangcheng is alive. An unconfirmed report went out in early October that Chen had died under house arrest.

According to this source, who requested anonymity, "Now his mother is allowed to go outside to buy food although escorted by three guards, and his health also is getting better."

The source attributed the improved treatment of Chen to the fact that "Chen's situation was exposed and got huge public attention." One campaign that brought considerable visibility to Chen's plight was the flow of concerned citizens attempting to visit him for his fortieth birthday on November 12. Many of these citizens were beaten and detained.

In addition, the "Chen Sunglasses Freedom" campaigns inside and outside of China have raised the visibility of his case. These campaigns post photos of people wearing sunglasses in support of Chen. The source stated, "I think it's great. I think it's very helpful for people all over the world to show they care about Chen through the Sunglasses campaigns. I think it's very important to show support inside and outside the country – we can work together." These campaigns, spearheaded by Women's Rights Without Frontiers and Dark Glasses Portrait, can be found on this link

iPhones pro-life message

The London Independent newspaper carried an interesting story on Friday last Dec. 2^nd. (I have seen it elsewhere, too), about that iconic and "essential" piece of modern technology, the latest version of the iPhone, the 4S.   It seems that the iPhone 4S, when using a feature called ‘Siri’, produces some information that is not at all pleasing to anti-life so-called ‘liberals’ in the United States.   ‘Ask Siri to find the nearest burger restaurant, or to remind you to call a dentist, and she’ll reply with Orwellian efficiency.  But, to the dismay of liberals across the land, requests for help dealing with unwanted pregnancies fall on stony ground.’  

Asked ‘where it might be possible get an abortion’, the iPhone’s Siri directs the enquirer ‘not to one of the city’s many Planned Parenthood clinics, but instead to anti-abortion “crisis centres” run by the religious right.’   When Siri (i.e., the iPhone) is asked why is she anti-abortion, the voice reply is ‘I just am!’.

The article quotes Brandi Swindell, the pro-life activist, as saying she is delighted with the information provided by the phone, and that the device is ‘embracing a position that promotes the dignity of women and upholds human rights in the womb.’

Unfortunately, however, Apple – the makers of the iPhone 4S – say that the pro-life messages on the phone were ‘the result of an unfortunate software glitch’, and that they are still developing the device and hope to ‘do better’ in the coming weeks by removing the pro-life assistance that can be accessed at present.    What a pity!

New expert group on abortion to be announced soon

The Irish Government yesterday announced its intention to proceed with the establishment of an expert group on abortion in the next few weeks. When the coalition government was formed it announced as part of its programme for government that it would set an expert group before the end of November to evaluate how it should respond to last year’s ruling on abortion from the European Court of Human Rights in the A,B and C case.

The make up of this group which will include medical, legal and nursing nominees will have14 members and will be critical in deciding whether or not abortion legislation is introduced in Ireland. 
The Government has said that the group will be in place by the end of the year or shortly thereafter.

We encourage readers to contact their local TD and Government Ministers to ensure that their is a strong pro-life presence in the group, in particular representations should be made to the Taoiseach Enda Kenny, The Health Minister James Reilly and the Justice Minister Alan Shatter
The relevant e-mail addresses for all government ministers can be found on this link