PO Box 20203, Washington, D.C. 20041
2008 April
Special Feature
Pope Benedict XVI and President Bush Support Pro-Life Political Position
President George W. Bush expressed his appreciation for Pope Benedict XVI’s strong pro-life position prior to the Pope’s historic arrival in the United States. President Bush said, "I'm going to remind the Holy Father how important his voice is in making it easier for politicians like me to be able to kind of stand and defend our positions that are, I think, very important positions to take."
Pope Benedict was welcomed to the White House by President Bush who acknowledged the pro-life contributions of Pope Benedict by saying: "In a world where some treat life as something to be debased and discarded, we need your message that all human life is sacred.” He continued, "And your message that 'each of us is willed, each of us is loved, and each of us is necessary’".
"In a world where some no longer believe that we can distinguish between simple right and wrong, we need your message to reject this 'dictatorship of relativism,' and embrace a culture of justice and truth.”
Pope Benedict, during his final homily in the US at Yankee Stadium, proclaimed that the gift of religious freedom requires a resolve to “build a future of hope for coming generations” which includes the importance of civic duties. Pope Benedict called on Catholics to reject the notion that pro-life views shouldn't be a part of politics and called on all to put on “the mind of Christ” which will reveal truth to the individual. The Pope proclaimed: "These are the truths that set us free!" "They are the truths which alone can guarantee respect for the inalienable dignity and rights of each man, woman and child in our world - including the most defenseless of all human beings, the unborn child in the mother's womb."
All the Pope’s statements during his visit to the USA can be read on the Vatican website available in English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, German, and Italian. This includes his speech at the United Nations where he addressed the General Assembly and urged them to remember that human rights are "grounded and shaped by the transcendent nature of the person" and "based on the natural law inscribed on human hearts and present in different cultures and civilizations."
Note: PNCI extends congratulations to Irish singer, Dana Scallon, who was one of the gifted singers invited to perform at Yankee Stadium. Dana is a former MEP from Ireland and a great friend to PNCI.
In Memoriam
Cardinal Lopez Trujillo, President of the Pontifical Council for the Family
PNCI and pro-life advocates around the world mourn the passing of Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family from Colombia, who died on Saturday April 19 th at the age of 72. Pope Benedict in a homily following the April 23 rd funeral Mass spoke of "the zeal and passion" with which the cardinal worked over the last 18 years, "his tireless activity in safeguarding and promoting the family and Christian marriage" as well as "the courage with which he defended the non-negotiable values of human life". The Holy Father continued, “The late cardinal drew his love for the truth about mankind and for the gospel of the family from the belief that each human being and each family reflects the mystery of God Who is Love.”
Cardinal Lopez Trujillo’s motto was "Veritas in caritate" and according to Pope Benedict, Cardinal Trujillo dedicated "his entire life to affirming the truth.” The numerous pro-life and pro-family conferences convened by Cardinal Lopez Trujillo helped to educate and inform activists worldwide on the truth surrounding critical issues affecting the family. Pope Benedict concluded the homily commenting on Cardinal Trujillo’s generosity suggesting that it “encourage us to use all our own physical and spiritual resources for the Gospel, may it spur us on to work in defense of human life, and help us to look constantly to the goal of our earthly pilgrimage". Source: Vatican
International Pressure to Change Pro-Life Laws
Ipas Promotes Abortion as Reproductive Health in Latin America
Promotion of access to abortion by NGO Ipas continues in Latin America. The fourth Latin American Congress on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights , was held April 10-12 in Montevideo, Uruguay attended by health-care professionals, pro-abortion activists, and government officials from across the region. Topics included legal abortion advocacy, maternal health, contraception, sex education programs and access to women’s reproductive health services. The president of the special congress, Dr. Leonel Briozzo of Uruguay introduced a new so-called “model” for health care called Iniciativas Sanitarias that includes instructing pregnant women on the use of misoprostol for abortion. Misoprostol is also known as Cytotec in Latin America and is used for chemical abortion in direct violation of the pro-life laws of most Latin American countries. Ipas expects that the Iniciativas Sanitarias model will be expanded to other Latin American countries. Source: Ipas
Council of Europe Resolution Threatens National Pro-Life Laws
The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe has passed a resolution calling for every European country to lift all restrictions on abortion. Despite opposition led by members from Malta and Ireland, the resolution passed by a vote of 102 to 69, with 14 abstentions. While resolutions passed by the Parliamentary Assembly are not legally binding, they can strongly influence law. Patrick Buckley of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) lamented the Assembly's action as an attack on states' individual sovereignty: "The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that the issue of when the right to life begins is a question to be decided at national level. It follows that the legal protection afforded to early human life must also be decided at national level," Buckley said. Source: SPUC
European Parliament Pressures Latin America
The European Parliament of the European Union recently hosted a meeting entitled "The Rights of Women to Reproductive Health in Latin America," which served as a forum for Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) and abortion proponents to criticize Latin American countries' pro-life laws. Radical feminists groups sited the Catholic Church's influence in the region and asked the Parliament to "encourage" these countries to legalize abortion and make "health and sexual and reproductive rights in Latin America" a part of their agenda. Source: CNA
Legislative News
Honduras: Lawmakers Sign Book of Life
PNCI applauds the work of pro-life lawmakers in Honduras who marked the 60 th anniversary of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights by signing a pro-life Book of Life. Led by Deputies Martha Lorena Alvarado Downing and Nelly Karina Jerez most of the 128 members of the Honduran National Assembly signed the declaration which stated a belief in respect for life from conception to natural death. President of the Honduran National Congress, Roberto Micheletti Baín, lent his support and leadership to the effort which is expected to be replicated in other countries in Latin America. Source: CNA
UK: Pro-Life MPs Educate Public on Dangers of Bill Permitting Human-Animal Hybrids
As the UK prepares for the House of Common’s consideration of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology (HFE) Bill, pro-life parliamentarians are actively working to educate and influence their colleagues and the public on the dangers of the bill. The HFE bill raises several concerns which include: permitting the creation of human-animal hybrids, removing the need for fathers for children resulting from IVF treatment, and, in opening the UK Abortion Act to amendment, could further expand abortion access including to pro-life Northern Ireland. For additional information on the bill and its current status, please refer to http://hfebill.org/. This website, hosted by the UK's All Party Parliamentary Pro-Life Group, is an excellent example of how Members can effectively educate and inform on a vote. The HFE bill is expected to be debated May 12.
Russia and Czech Republic: Nations Respond to Falling Birth Rates
The Russian legislature is responding to the nation's low birthrate. With the number of abortions outpacing births and abortion often used as a method of birth control, the Duma has introduced legislation to ban advertisements for abortion from mainstream media outlets. Advertisements for abortion would only be permitted in medical institutions and medical media. Other measures to reduce abortions are also to be considered, including the regulation of private abortion clinics.
Similarly, Christian Democrats in the Czech Republic have proposed changes to reform the nation's liberal abortion laws. The changes seek to lower the time frame for abortions done on the grounds of "health" to 18 weeks from 24 weeks gestation, give the father a voice in the decision, and raise the age of consent from 16 to 18. The Czech Republic has one of the lowest birth rates in the world, with 1.22 children born per woman in 2007.
US: Bill Introduced to Ban Human-Animal Hybrids
Rep. Chris Smith introduced a bill in the U.S. House of Representatives targeted at the creation of part-human and part-animal hybrids. The practice is feared to be on the rise as scientists successfully created human-animal hybrids for the first time in the UK. Other researchers have been experimenting with techniques to combine genetic materials from humans and animals into a single embryo. The bill, H.R. 5910, forbids the creation of human-animal hybrids under varying circumstances and includes banning the introduction of animal cells into a human embryo, banning the fertilization of a human egg with non-human sperm, and forbids the introduction of a non-human nucleus into a human egg, as well as the use of a human nucleus into a non-human egg.
Executive News
Mexico: Official Admits that Legalized Abortion Increases Abortions, Pro-life leader Reports Deaths and Injuries
Marking one year of legalized abortion this month, Mexico City's Secretary of Health Manuel Mondragón acknowledges that the law has "tended to increase" the number of abortions. Approximately 7,820 abortions have been performed since the Law of Legal Interruption of Pregnancy was passed last April. Despite the legalization, abortion remains unacceptable to the majority of the population and most doctors. Further, Jorge Serrano Limón, president of the Mexican National Pro-Life (Provida) Committee, reported this month he had information on the eight women who died and the twenty-two who were injured from legal abortions.
US: Alaska’s Governor Welcomes Son with Downs Syndrome
Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin recently celebrated the birth of a son who has Downs Syndrome. Welcoming her fifth child, Governor Palin and her family expressed their joy, “Trig is beautiful and already adored by us. We knew through early testing he would face special challenges, and we feel privileged that God would entrust us with this gift and allow us unspeakable joy as he entered our lives. We have faith that every baby is created for good purpose and has potential to make this world a better place. We are truly blessed.” Source: CNA
Judicial News
Chile: No Free “Plan B” Distribution
In a victory for pro-life legislators in the National Congress of Chile who filed the case, the Chilean Supreme Court has struck down a government program that was giving out the "morning-after pill" free of charge to adolescents and women. The decision stops the government mandated distribution by all pharmacies, including those who refused to comply and were fined for objecting on conscience grounds. Magaly Llaguno of Human Life International celebrated the decision and its implications: "Vida Humana Internacional applauds the Chilean Constitutional Court decision and hopes that it will have repercussions in many other countries, especially in Latin America, where legal battles against the distribution and use of this deadly pill are also taking place." Source: Life Site
Mexico: Court Holds Public Hearings on Abortion Law
Mexico's top court continued hearing testimonies on the constitutionality of the Mexico City law from both pro-life and pro-abortion advocates. The court heard from specialists in bioethics, philosophy, genetics, law and human rights who argued that embryos deserve the full protection of the law. Pro-abortion legislator, Víctor Hugo Círigo , president of the Federal District Legislative Assembly’s political commission, argued that the unborn child is not a person. He stated the following as rational: “They don’t have nationality; otherwise those conceived in one country and born in another would have double nationality; and the embryos crossing from one country to another inside their mother’s womb would need a passport.” The Court has scheduled another hearing for July 25, after which the justices will consider their ruling.
Issues
Kenya: Real Solutions Will Reduce Maternal Mortality Not False Statistics
More evidence in Kenya points to the desperate need for real solutions for women facing high risk of maternal death. Recent news articles that push for liberalized abortion in Kenya as a solution to maternal mortality have taken resources and attention away from the biggest killer of mothers- post-partum hemorrhage or bleeding. Even more disturbing is the revelation that some doctors have manipulated the data representing deaths from abortion to further the case for increased abortion access. These are the charges made by Dr Jean Kagia, an obstetrician and gynecologist who serves as national co-coordinator of an emergency program for treating women in labor in Kenya.
During the presentation of a refresher course in techniques and procedures to prevent the death of women during childbirth, Dr. Kagia pointed to a slanted Ipas study published in the June 9 th, 2007 issue of Saturday Nation which claims that 316,560 abortions occur in the Kenya every year. Dr Jean Kagia explained that over 44 percent of the abortion number actually represents spontaneous abortions, also known as miscarriages, and that only 28 percent of those numbers are actually induced abortions with the remaining from other causes. Dr. Kagian states: “…even internationally, abortion is not a major cause of maternal mortality.”
Rather Dr. Kagia believes: "We should be putting more energy into stopping maternal deaths than in calling for freer access to abortion. Mothers are dying, and we have tools which we can use.” These tools include: early identification of obstructed delivery, treatment of high blood pressure and infection, and the availability of clean blood for transfusion. Source: All Africa
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The Parliamentary Network for Critical Issues (PNCI) is committed to networking members of democratically-elected legislatures in efforts to advance respect for the inherent value, worth, and inviolable dignity of every human being from the first moment of existence. PNCI issues the Parliamentary Network E-News to provide lawmakers, and those who work with them, news from various sources on the international threat to pro-life laws and current legislative and judicial actions on critical life issues challenging parliamentarians around the world. PNCI is a project of Life Issues Institute.
All news articles include links to original source. PNCI cannot verify that the information contained in the news articles is accurate. info@pncius.org
