PNCI E-News 2009
Parliamentary
network e-news Recent
news on laws and policies affecting the culture of life |
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Volume
3, Number 1 |
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Contents 2009: Focus on Hope for a Culture of Life Abortion Opposition is Strong Religious Unity Offers Hope for Culture of Life Catholic-Muslim Forum Emphasizes the Dignity of the Human
Person Catholics and Orthodox Unite in First Forum PNCI Commentary Pro-Abortion Action Pro-Life Action Pro-life Leaders Unite at the UN Legislative News EU: Parliamentarians Form New Human Dignity Working Group Executive News US: Conscience Protections Issued by Health and Human Services Issues |
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2009: Focus on Hope for a Culture of Life Abortion
Opposition is Strong The New
Year brings new pro-life challenges and opportunities for success in numerous
struggles around the world. May we be filled with hope for pro-life
success as we consider our greatest resource and most effective weapon in
stopping the advance of legal abortion—the hearts and minds of people around
the world who recognize and believe that the unborn child is precious and
needs to be protected. Pro-abortion
activists continually write plans and develop strategies designed for a
single purpose—overcoming what they term “religious and cultural barriers to
abortion”—including equating an induced abortion to a spontaneous miscarriage
in a deceptive attempt to lessen opposition to the deliberate destruction of
unborn children. We face pro-abortion activists who use every means available
to change people’s hearts and minds on abortion and link the legalization of
abortion to many noble causes including the reduction of maternal deaths,
eradication of poverty, and education of young women. Yet, we know and women
and men around the world know that abortion is not an acceptable solution to
any problem. Pope Benedict XVI’s New Year’s message stressed the need for
life-affirming solutions that end poverty while respecting women and the
lives of unborn children. The Pope condemned population control programs
saying: "The extermination of millions of unborn children, in the name
of the fight against poverty, actually constitutes the destruction of the
poorest of all human beings." He pointed out that resources do exist to
fight poverty without killing innocent life. It is
our hope that parliamentarians around the world will take the Pope’s message
to heart and increase their efforts to stop the advance of abortion and enact
policies that assist pregnant women with essential health care and practical
resources. Religious
Unity Offers Hope for Culture of Life Increased
engagement in the struggle for a culture of life by religious leaders of all
faiths offers us great hope for united action to protect unborn children and
their mothers from the violence of abortion in 2009. Catholic-Muslim
Forum Emphasizes the Dignity of the Human Person A Catholic-Muslim
Forum was recently held at the Catholics
and Orthodox Unite in First Forum The First European
Catholic-Orthodox Forum held in PNCI
Commentary These
historic religious forums give hope that people of all faiths will unite and
work together in new ways to affect laws and policies on critical life and
family issues. In discussing the Catholic-Orthodox forum Russian
Orthodox Bishop Hilarion Alfejey stated,
"The aim above all is to start clear and effective communication between
our churches so that we are aware that we face the same challenges
(secularism, consumerism, atheism, etc.) These are themes which all our
churches face individually and instead it is important to tackle them
together." PNCI
believes unity among faiths and denominations is essential to the formation
of successful coalitions in every country to advance pro-life laws and
policies in 2009. PNCI has developed a guide for pro-life advocates
entitled “Informational Guide to the Legislative Process” which is
free upon request and will help ensure that the pro-life and pro-woman
message is clearly heard by elected leaders globally. Pro-Abortion Action Women lawyers in Uganda
stated that the treaty of the African Union known as Maputo Protocol demands
that abortion be legalized in Pro-Life Action Pro-life
Leaders Unite at the UN A
coalition of pro-life and pro-family leaders known as the Familiokratos coalition has presented a petition
of 5.4 million families to the UN declaring the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
(UDHR) protects the rights of the unborn and the family. The petition asserts
that elected officials, governments and parliamentarians need to interpret
the UDHR in such a way as to affirm the dignity of every human being,
including the unborn. The presentation of the Familiokratos
petition to the UN was announced by Members of the European Parliament Anna Záborská and Carlo Casini on
behalf of the coalition on the 60th anniversary of the Universal
Declaration. US-based C-FAM gathered over 450,00
signatures in support of the petition asserting the rights of the unborn and
families. Legislative News Coalition
building has helped pro-life and pro-family advocates move toward success as
the Philippine House of Representatives continues to consider the
Reproductive Health bill. An alliance of groups, united by the Catholic
Church, has been tirelessly working at the grassroots and national levels to
lobby against passage of the legislation. “We shall see when the actual
voting comes but I believe pro-family and pro-life legislators are growing in
numbers and committed ones are the most vocal,” said Father Melvin Castro,
Executive of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippine’s Episcopal
Commission on Family and Life. EU:
Parliamentarians Form New Human Dignity Working Group Members of the European
Parliament, led by MEP Gay Mitchell, have formed a new working group to
promote the dignity of the human person and promote the pro-life view on
abortion and bioethics. The Human Dignity Working Group states in its mission
that human beings are created in the image and likeness of God, and that
“these properties have come to be known in the modern, secular state as
‘fundamental human rights’, and it is these rights the Working Group will
seek to recognize in their fullest capacity by recognizing their
source.” MEP Nirj Deva, a member of the working group and chairman of
its Inter-Parliamentary Delegation commented on the
need for such a group: “Why does the European Parliament need this
Working Group? Because we believe it is essential to the balance between the
rights and responsibilities of the individual and the power of the State.” Scottish
Parliament Member Margo McDonald is pushing a bill to legalize assisted
suicide, which would include suicide for children over 12 years old.
McDonald, who suffers from Parkinson’s disease, entered Parliament in pursuit
of legalizing assisted suicide so that she could choose to legally kill
herself if she so desired. The legislation currently has little support, and
similar attempts to legalize assisted suicide have failed. The Uruguayan
Parliament is considering a bill that will open the door for legalized euthanasia. The
John Paul II Archdiocesan Institute of Bioethics has warned that the proposed
law, which addresses extraordinary measures of care, does not distinguish
between avoiding unnecessary treatment and euthanasia. “This means that it
does not give sufficient guarantees that it is not legalizing, in practice,
euthanasia,” the Institute said. The Jamaican
Parliament’s Joint Select Committee is debating the legalization of abortion. It is suspected that the move
is in response to international pressure from the United Nations and European
Union to legalize abortion as part of achieving its targeted Millennium
Development Goals. Yet, in 2005 the Minister of Health had declared
that there was no evidence linking induced abortion and maternal mortality
rates. The current move is questionable to many. Catholic and pro-life
leaders have protested the abortion push and urged Parliament to protect the
unborn. Kingston Archbishop Donald Reece stated: “The people
of Executive News US:
Conscience Protections Issued by Health and Human Services The U.S.
Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) has issued a final regulation under the Bush administration that
will protect medical providers’ freedom of conscientious objection. Under the
new rule, health care workers and institutions have the right to decline
participation in procedures they object to without fear of discrimination.
Welcoming the new rule, Dr. David Stevens, CEO of the Christian Medical
Association (CMA), said it will "protect patients and patient access to
physicians who adhere to life-affirming ethical standards." Pro-abortion
activists are eager for the new Uruguayan
President Tabare Vazquez has left the Socialist
Party following
his veto of legislation to expand legalization of abortion in the country
which permits exceptions for rape and incest. Vazquez twice vetoed
legislation to legally allow surgical abortion on demand in the first
trimester, arguing that the government should provide support for pregnant
women rather than abortion. He has also declared that he will not be a
presidential candidate for the Socialist Party in 2009. The ruling Broad
Front coalition, of which the Socialist Party is a member, is now facing
diminished prospects for election following Vazquez’s resignation. Nearly all
members of the Broad Front coalition voted for the bill to decriminalize
abortion. The
Grand Duke promised to veto the law which will permit doctors to kill
“terminally ill” patients after a review by two physicians and a medical panel.
The law narrowly passed but will undergo revision next year. In a sign of
solidarity, the pro-life
community has come together to support Forty cross-party pro-life
Members of the Italian Parliament opposed the
approval of the abortion pills known as RU-486 and have successfully
pressured the Italian Pharmaceutical Agency (AIFA) to delay final approval of
the medication. It was expected that approval would be issued in mid-
December but the agency now refuses to issue an approval date. The statement
by the MPs of Premier Silvio Berlusconi’s center-right People of Liberties
Party, the Northern League, and the Catholic UDC party branded RU-486 a “kill
pill”. Prominent MP Isabella Bertolini said, “killer RU-486 opens a
dangerous path and poses a threat to women’s health”. The Issues Misoprostol: The Dangerous Self-administered
Abortion Pill The self-use of misoprostol alone for abortion has been brought to the
spotlight as abortion groups study the use of chemical abortion by Hispanic
women in the Parliamentary Network for
Critical Issues Phone: 703-433-2767 Email: info@pncius.org 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. All
news articles include links to original source. PNCI cannot verify that the
information contained in the news articles is accurate. To
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