Each year, Youth Defence organises a pro-life trek across Ireland called The Roadshow.  The Roadshow brings a group of people together from various ages, backgrounds and nationalities, in order to promote the sanctity of human life.  Each person on the Roadshow brought a different perspective, a unique background, and a zeal for the gift of life.  The volunteers came from a variety of ages, nationalities, and activist backgrounds.  There were people from Ireland, France, Belgium, Poland, America, and England represented throughout the Roadshow.  

There were people who had been a part of nearly every Roadshow throughout the years and others who had never done anything actively pro-life in public before.  All of these factors brought an excitement and passion that was unique to this year, which was quite fitting, it being the 20th anniversary of the first Roadshow.  Over 70 pro-life activists hit the streets of over 20 towns throughout Ireland on the 20th Official Youth Defence Roadshow.  

On Wednesday July 7th, the volunteers packed their bags and hit the road on behalf of the unborn, mothers, and the respect for all human life.  Over 100,000 leaflets and booklets, feet pins, pro-life balloons, and other pro-life materials and loaded is all into the vans and cars, and the team headed off on their trek across the country. After 10 days on the road, stalls in 20 different towns, and over 100,000 leaflets handed out; the Roadshow proved to be a tremendous success and we have only begun to see the amazing fruits coming from this 10 day trek.

As you can imagine, each person on the Roadshow has countless stories to be shared and their own experiences to be documented.  But, one in particular that sticks out was when we were in Longford, a woman came up to the stall with her young daughter.  The woman said she was pro-abortion and expressed her disagreement with our message but, said she wanted to stop by to see what “all these young people” were doing with a stall on the main road.  After speaking to this woman for some time, one of the YD members gave the daughter a “feet pin” and explained that this is what the 11 year old girl’s feet looked like when she was a mere 10 weeks old.  The mother and daughter stood in awe.  Kate Bryan, who was one of the YD members speaking to this woman said, “It was as though I was witnessing a conversion right before my eyes.  It was astounding to see how something as simple as a 10 week old baby ‘feet pin’ could transform a person’s view on abortion.”  After speaking to the woman further, she came to the conclusion that she was actually against abortion and asked for every bit of literature she could get from us, so that she could educate herself on the abortion issue.

This is only one of the countless stories to be told from the 10 day trek across Ireland.  The Roadshow was full of debates, conversations, and ultimate blessings.  

Thank you for all of your support and prayers.  Expect to hear more Roadshow stories in the Solas and future Ezines.

The International Community of Women Living with HIV/AIDS in Namibia (ICW-Namibia) and the Windhoek-based Legal Assistance Centre (LAC) have documented the stories of dozens of HIV-positive women who were sterilized against their will in public hospitals. LifeSite News reported this fact and that dozens of women had come forward to claim that PEPFAR-funded public hospitals in Namibia had forced or coerced them into “receiving tubal ligations because of their HIV-positive status”.  Fifteen of these women are now suing the Namibian government and other women continue to come forward with similar allegations.

One year after LifeSiteNews revealed this shocking revelation, a new report issued by the Inspector General (IG) for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) states that the Obama administration has recently spent over $23 million for activities in Kenya to influence voters there to support a new constitution that would authorize unlimited abortion throughout the nation.  The Obama administration tried to deny that this funding had been given to this campaign, but the facts present the exact opposite.  Rep. Chris Smith, a pro-life activist and a ranking member of the Africa and Global Health subcommittee, has been closely investigating grants that the Obama administration has provided to Kenyan groups promoting a “Yes” vote campaign for the new constitution.  Smith said the IG’s list shows that “U.S. tax dollar monies are flying out the door to pro-abortion groups committed to overturning pro-life laws in Kenya.” Africa’s constitution currently protects both women and unborn children from abortions, but on the 4th of August 2010, the people of Africa will vote on whether or not to overturn the pro-life laws of their country. The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) said that this legislation "opens the door to abortion on demand, which is why Christian organizations that are pro-life are so opposed to that provision." 

See related article

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/health/2010/0720/1224275071637.html

Under the new informed consent provisions, women must be advised of the risks of abortion, given information about the physiological characteristics of their unborn child, and be presented with what resources are available to women who choose to bring their child to term.

Abortionists will also be required to provide a brochure proclaiming: "The life of each human being begins at conception. Abortion will terminate the life of a separate, unique, living human being."

Women must also be given the opportunity to view an ultrasound, learn about the pain an unborn child may feel during a late term abortion, and have access to a telephone if she is at the abortion facility under duress from a third party.  Additionally under the law, insurance plans in the soon-to-be-created federal health care exchanges which are subsidized by taxpayer dollars cannot offer abortion coverage.

"We applaud our allies in the Missouri legislature for dramatically enhancing the informed consent protections for women in Missouri and making Missouri the fifth state to opt out of taxpayer-funded abortion," said Dr. Charmaine Yoest, President & CEO of Americans United for Life (AUL). "This new law protects women, their unborn children, and taxpayers making it a win for everyone in the state."

Senate sponsor Rob Mayer said regarding the legislation, “I truly believe that anyone who can hear the heartbeat of these children, or see the pain the child goes through, and is told about the many options they have, will ultimately choose life."

This law will go into effect on the 28th of August.

Bazelon attained her information from a New York Times piece called The New Abortion Providers. On this, rather lengthy piece, she reported how many Universities now offer a 2 year programme to sharpen their students skills regarding abortion and contraception. This program is called the Family Planning Fellowship, in which students are trained here or abroad, side by side with the World Health Organisation, on abortion and contraception issues.  The main intent of  these programmes is to keep a continuity between the older abortionists (dawned by Roe v. Wade), and the younger medical students, so this practise is not lost.

According to Bazelon, the majority of funding for these programmes come from the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation.  The Buffett Foundation’s tax records reveal that most of its spending is allocated to “abortion and contraception advocacy and research.”  The Foundation has given tens of millions to Planned Parenthood and Ipas, as well as millions to other pro-abortion groups like Catholics for Choice.  Buffett has pledged to give away 99% of his estimated $47 billion assets, with most of it going to the Gates Foundation, which is infamous for its avowed emphasis on population control.

Despite Buffett’s and the rest of the pro-abortion movement’s efforts to bring abortion into the mainstream of medicine, however, pro-life leaders insist that abortionists are by nature at the bottom rung of medicine, where debauched doctors end up when they are too incompetent for any other area.

“No one goes to medical school with the intent of working in a Planned Parenthood or some other abortion clinic,” said Mark Crutcher, President of Life Dynamics Inc., last month, after an Ottawa abortionist was disciplined for his incompetence in treating 25 of his clients.  “The wash-outs from the leftovers of medicine wind up working in these abortion clinics.”

The staff gathered around his bed prior to withdrawing treatment and noticed their previously unresponsive patient was able to blink his eyes for the first time.  The amazed staff decided to ask him directly what he wanted.  The doctors asked Mr Rudd three times if he wanted to carry on living

Three times he blinked “yes” in reply to their questions.

This was the first time Mr Rudd had responded to any stimuli in three weeks and the moment was captured on a BBC documentary, entitled Between Life and Death.  Far from being brain-dead, as his family had feared, Mr Rudd was perfectly aware of his situation and finally able to communicate.  Now nine months later, he can move his head from side to side and smile at his family.

“He had severe injuries to his brain and we could not communicate with him. The outcome was thought to be very bleak indeed,” said Professor David Menon, who was in charge of Mr. Rudd’s care at Addenbrooke’s.   

Mr Rudd is now in a lower dependency unit nearer his home in Worcester and hopes to go to Stoke Mandeville Hospital, where he will be taught to communicate using his tongue, eyes and facial muscles.

His father spoke of the family’s relief: “His daughters are certainly glad that he's alive. They joke around in front of him, he smiles and that lifts him for ages.  His long term memory is intact, he can make facial expressions, and has an Elvis Presley twitch on one side of his mouth. But physically, he's gone.  It might not be the same Richard that we started out with, but at least he's still coping because he still smiles when we talk about the past or when he sees his children.”

Mr Rudd’s case again raises the issue of patients who express a clear wish to die but then change their minds due to their circumstances.

Read more here

Jacobs observed: "Kenyans are literally fighting for the hope and future of their nation - the lives of unborn children.  The Constitution, which will be voted on by Kenyans on August 4, includes language which overturns current Kenyan law prohibiting abortion except to save the mother's life. It would allow abortion when the mother's 'health' is affected by a continuation of pregnancy.

"The World Health Organization (WHO) defines 'health' to include 'complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.' Thus, Section 26 of the proposed Constitution sets up a mechanism for unrestricted abortion on demand at any time during pregnancy," he said.

Africa has been targeted by international population control groups for legalized abortion despite a 47% drop in Kenyan fertility and projections that show a declining population in the next 50 years.

In recent days, the Obama administration has been accused by a group of U.S. congressmen of spending over $23 million to promote the pro-abortion Constitution.

Jacobs urged Kenyans to "carefully consider the consequences of this fatal move, which could be the first step on a road the West has followed, leading to one-quarter of all pregnancies in the U.S. ending in abortion." 

"Once again, the legacy of Margaret Sanger and Planned Parenthood is revealed with their racist agenda to eliminate black Africans," said Jacobs. He pointed to the history of 21st Century black genocide from abortion as chronicled in the documentary movie, Maafa21.

Organisers of the hugely successful Rally for Life say they were thrilled with the huge turnout for life in Belfast. Up to 4,000 people marched in the bright sunshine through the packed Belfast shopping district, which came to a standstill as the colourful and lively parade passed through.

Just after 2pm on Saturday, an enormous cheer went up from the Rally as thousands of people of all ages set off from Custom House Square through the busy city centre. The Rally organizers had issued an “open invitation to families and friends, young and old to join together to Celebrate Life”. Face-painting, balloons, music, an open top bus added a carnival-like atmosphere to the gathering, which has grown in numbers every year since its inception.

The Rally is organised by a coalition of pro-life groups including Precious Life, Youth Defence and the Life Institute. Bernadette Smyth of Precious Life who hosted the Rally this year said she was “overwhelmed” by the massive turnout of thousands of people standing together for mothers and babies. She said that "Ireland is the light of the world" in the global battle against abortion, a sentiment echoed by Fr Terry Gensemner from CEC for Life who brought a team of young people to the Rally.

Niamh Uí Bhriain of the Life Institute told the rally that the most immediate threat to Ireland’s pro-life ethos was the proposed legislation on the human embryo being brought forward by Health Minister Mary Harney in the autumn. She said that a Summer of Life campaign on the issue would begin within days and that the pro-life majority needed to work to ensure that proposed legislation would ban embryo research and the deliberate destruction of human embryos created, but not used, in IVF procedures. The Campaign hopes to reach 600,000 people in the next twelve weeks and will use pro-life stalls, an information campaign and advertising to get its message across

Ms Uí Bhriain drew cheers from the crowd when she said the message of the Rally to the governments north and south was: “You will not kill our children, at any stage, in any place, not in our country and not in our name”.

Youth Defence spokeswoman Íde Nic Mhathúna said: “We’re so delighted to see that the number of people coming out to protect life is growing every year. The Rally was a great day out for everyone – a real occasion to Celebrate Life. And most importantly it brought people together to stand against abortion, and to become part of the important work done north and south to protect human life.”

As Bernadette Smyth concluded, "The Rally for Life has given another huge boost to the pro-life cause in Ireland. We are proud to proclaim that - at a time when abortion has become the norm in so many other countries around the world - Ireland still protects and cherishes her unborn children.”

See photos of the Rally here

See Precious Life’s slideshow of the day here

The pro-life information Roadshow is by now a well-established event, and is crucially important in reaching out right across the country with the pro-life message. It features cutting-edge materials and information, and organizer Rebecca Roughneen says it has made the “the maximum impact” on tens of thousands of people this year.

”We’ve been mostly blessed by good weather, the centres have been very busy, and we’ve got a tremendous amount of interest in our pro-life sessions,” said Ms Roughneen. “It’s great to get out there and meet up with local members who help to distribute information and to talk to people.”

Ms Roughneen said that the importance of the Roadshow lay in its ability to reach out to thousands of people every day who wanted to know more about abortion, and who took the opportunity to stop, to talk, and get a better understanding on the effects of abortion on women and children.”

The Roadshow has packed 100,000 informative leaflets, booklets, pins, stickers and cards, and expect to have distributed every one by the end of the tour. A newly-produced video by Youth Defence which uses beautiful images of the child in the womb captured by cutting-edge technology was also available, and proved very popular.

Ms Roughneen said that the Roadshow experience was incredibly positive but that the group welcomed debate and questions. “It’s always great to see people re-affirming their pro-life views but really we’re mostly about bringing information to people who want to know more,” she said. “We’re working at the frontline of the movement and we’re here to answer questions and provide information.”

“And she added that the Roadshow brought new life-affirming stories each year. “Every year we meet mothers, with gorgeous babies, who were considering abortion and changed their mind because they received information on the Roadshow,” she said. “It’s the best result you could possible ask for.”

Hear a radio clip that was recorded live for Live95FM in Limerick City during the Roadshow there

There are a few photos on our Facebook site, view them here. We will have a report and full photo gallery next week

The Scottish Roadshow will visit Edinburgh, Perth, Dundee and Montrose amongst other towns and pro-life stalls will run from 11am-5pm. All volunteers welcome!

The pro-life leader said that the Scottish Tour was “inspired by Youth Defence’s Roadshow” and that it was a fantastic chance to become active in the pro-life movement, help get the pro-life message out there, and meet up with fellow pro-lifers.”

O'Donnell argued against recognising the right to life of an anecephalic child in the D case in 2007, where barristers argued in the High Court that Baby D deserved no legal protection because his/her condition meant he/she was not an "unborn person".

Curiously, Judge McKechnie heard the D case, and his ruling was widely condemned by pro-life groups and disability activists when he described the baby at the centre of the case as “an aberration of nature”.

Justice McKechnie has made several controversial rulings such as the high-profile case involving the Lydia Foy transsexual case, which came before him twice. He replaces Justice Hugh Hugh Geoghegan, who retired last month.

His nomination came the day after it was announced that the Government was withdrawing its appeal against his 2007 judgment that the Civil Registration Act 2004, which did not permit the issuing of a new birth certificate to Lydia Foy, a transsexual, was incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.

Dr Ó Domhnaill said that given the predilection of the abortion industry to use the courts in attempts to overrule pro-life laws, these most recent government nominees should be a cause of concern.

The Mail writes: “When Cara Sciberras went into labour at 23 weeks, doctors warned there was only a million-to-one chance her child would survive.

But when baby Nathan arrived he surprised everyone by immediately gulping for breath before continuing to fight for his life in an incubator.

Now, more than two years on, he has not only avoided any of the health complications very premature babies often develop but is growing so fast that he is almost as tall as his four-year-old brother Joshua.

Nathan - who weighed 1lb 8oz at birth and was small enough to fit in someone's hand - now stands at 3ft 1in, just three inches less than his big brother and putting him in the top ten per cent for his height compared to other children his age.

'For weeks we worried that he wouldn't make it but now when you look at him you would never know what he has gone through,' said Mrs Sciberras, 28, from Newport Pagnell, Buckinghamshire.

'From the moment he came out of hospital he was a hungry baby and now he loves his food. He is taller than lots of his friends and even some of his brother's friends who are two years older.'

Mrs Sciberras was rushed to Milton Keynes Hospital on December 11, 2007, after her waters broke 17 weeks earlier than expected.She was transferred to Southampton Hospital, which had specialist equipment for premature babies, and gave birth there three days later.

'When I went into labour the doctors said the baby only had a one-in-a-million chance of surviving because he was so early and breach, which meant when he came out he would press against his umbilical cord and cut off his air supply,' she added.

‘'We were told that if he wasn't breathing when he was born they wouldn't resuscitate him as they don't help children younger than 24 weeks.’

After the traumatic birth on December 14, 2007, Mrs Sciberras and her husband Mike, 38, a car salesman, named their son Nathan, which means 'gift from God'.

Read the full story here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/http://www.youthdefence.ie/article//One-million-Baby-born-23-weeks-thriving-toddler-set-pre-school.html#ixzz0t1eIcGMm

A recent post told how a chief proponent of embryonic stem cell research has abandoned the field. Smith refers to Michael Cook over at Bioedge and quotes from his column:

“Amongst scientists who promoted the use of human embryonic stem cells five years ago, in the middle of passionate debates in the US, Australia and elsewhere, few were more influential in shaping the ethical debate than Harvard’s George Q. Daley. “We must support the vitally important applications of embryonic stem cells to medical research,” he testified to a US Congressional committee in 2005 http://www.isscr.org/public/testimony_daley.htm . He contended that work on hESCs was so important that it could not be delayed.

“Now, he has transferred the same sense of urgency and excitement to an ethical non-controversial alternative to hESC research which he dismissed before the committee – induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells). At the time, he said, “Although this strategy is worth pursuing, it is extremely high-risk, and may take years to perfect, and may never work as well as nuclear transfer, which we know we can practice today.” However, in 2007 iPS cells were developed by Shinya Yamanaka. Professor Daley immediately stopped campaigning for hESCs. In an interview with Nature Medicine, he says, “Once Yamanaka solved the problem, I turned around virtually my entire program to take advantage of that breakthrough.”

As I always say, good ethics is also good science. Time will tell, but believe that IPSCs (or some other ethical approach to obtaining pluripotent stem cells), along with adult stem cells, will eventually provide almost every regenerative medical and research benefit we were once told could only come from ESCR/therapeutic cloning.

In a statement http://www.agenciasic.es/2010/07/11/impidamos-la-tirania-carta-del-arzobispo-de-burgos published on the bishops' Catholic Information Service, Gil Hellín laments the recent promulgation of the law, an "evil law which is directly opposed to right reason and the most elemental justice. Such is the law that establishes that the Spanish have the right to kill the unborn, as long as they do it before 14 weeks."

"Let us diagnose it with total clarity: this law is no law, although it is presented as such by some political and legislative bodies. And it isn't because no one has the right to eliminate an innocent. For that reason, it doesn't obligate. Even more, it demands a head-on opposition without reservation. Right reason cannot admit as a right the killing of an innocent person.

The new abortion law, which is being contested before Spain's Constitutional Tribunal, abolishes penalties for all abortions during the first 14 weeks of pregnancy. It also allows minors to obtain abortions without parental permission, although they must first inform their parents of their intention to do so.

The archbishop rejects arguments that claim the law is somehow valid because it was passed by the legislature and approved according to the required legal processes.

"It is a fallacy to affirm that this law has been approved by the majority of the Parliament and that this represents the majority of the citizens, or to say that if the Constitutional Tribunal decrees its conformity [with the Constitution] it would be disobedience to oppose it, and would deserve a punishment. The fallacy consists in attributing to politicians, judges, or citizens a right that they don't have, and no one has the right to legislate that an innocent can be killed."

"What society would continue if it declared that is the right of citizens to kill innocent persons by majority [vote]? In the best scenario it would be converted into a tyranny, against which upright persons would have to react, according to this advice by Gandhi: 'As soon as one understands that obeying unjust laws is contrary to his dignity as a man, no tyranny can dominate him.'"

The archbishop's strong statements were made only days before the Constitutional Tribunal is to decide if the law will be suspended while it is under review.

A previous ruling of the Tribunal in the 1980s decreed that the right to life of the unborn child is paramount except in certain cases, including danger to health, rape, or fetal deformity.

On Monday a letter was sent to Jim Wells, Chairman of the Northern Ireland Assembly's Health Committee, from the department announcing that it has withdrawn its interim guidelines on abortion and would be launching a public consultation

Precious Life, who has spent years battling the guidelines, welcomed their withdrawal, and noted that the Department of Health have now issued and overturned or withdrawn such guidelines twice so far. In 2009, pro-life groups challenged the legality of the guidelines in the High Court. Lord Justice Girvan ruled that the guidelines issued by the Department of Health were not clear and agreed that they would be open to misinterpretation. He added that the language used in the guidelines was "ambiguous" and "a trap to the unwary” and warned that they could create problems for doctors and other medical practitioners.

“Given Justice Girvan’s remarks it was particularly objectionable that the Department of Health choose to issue very similar guidelines in February of this year,” said Bernadette Smyth of Precious Life.  She said the Department had repeatedly ignored the wishes of the pro-life majority, the motion passed by the Assembly, the evidence of medical practitioners and even the High Court to pursue an abortion agenda.

“Sheer persistence, public activity and prayer have now forced the Department to back down,” said Mrs Smyth. “We’ll be keeping a sharp eye on what happens now since they have shown that vigilance is necessary to protect mothers and unborn babies. We’ll also be making sure that pro-life voices are heard in the public consultations."

The Rally is organised by a coalition of pro-life groups including Precious Life, Youth Defence and the Life Institute. Bernadette Smyth of Precious Life said she was “delighted to see the huge crowd which had gathered for the fourth consecutive year to stand in defence of life.”

Niamh Uí Bhriain of the Life Institute told the rally that the most immediate threat to Ireland’s pro-life ethos was the proposed legislation on the human embryo being brought forward by Health Minister Mary Harney in the autumn. She said that a Summer of Life campaign on the issue would begin within days and that the pro-life majority needed to work to ensure that proposed legislation would ban embryo research and the deliberate destruction of human embryos created, but not used, in IVF procedures. The Campaign hopes to reach 600,000 people in the next twelve weeks and will use pro-life stalls, an information campaign and advertising to get its message across

Ms Uí Bhriain drew cheers from the crowd when she said the message of the Rally to the governments north and south was: “You will not kill our children, at any stage, in any place, not in our country and not in our name”.

Organisers of the Rally had issued an “open invite to families and friends, young and old to join together to Celebrate Life”. Face-painting, balloons, music, an open top bus added a carnival-like atmosphere to the gathering, which has grown in numbers every year since its inception.

Ide Nic Mhathúna of the organising committee said: “We’re so delighted to see that the number of people coming out to protect life is growing every year. The Rally was a great day out for everyone – a real occasion to Celebrate Life. And most importantly it brought people together to stand against abortion, and to become part of the important work done north and south to protect human life.”

Ms Nic Mhathúna said that international pressure was being brought to bear on Ireland’s pro-life laws, and pointed to the ABC case sponsored by the Irish Family Planning Association currently before the European Court of Human Rights. “That case seeks to overturn our pro-life laws,” she said. “The rally is an important reminder to our politicians that the majority of Irish people are pro-life”.

Bernadette Smyth of Precious Life closed the rally by telling her enthusiastic audience that they must be “a voice for the voiceless, for mothers and babies, for the Culture of Life”.

Four days after the Rally Youth Defence’s National Pro-Life Roadshow gets under way visiting twenty towns and cities in ten days of non-stop pro-life activity. Up to 70 young people will take part in the event which reaches many thousands of people each year.

"Life is our most precious gift. The ‘All-Ireland Rally for Life’ is a celebration of life. To attend or take part in it in any way is a worthwhile endeavour to pursue as Catholics. We stand up for God's gift of life," wrote Bishop Boyce.

Organisers of the Rally welcomed the message and called for pro-life people north and south to make a special effort to attend the Rally, which begins at 2pm in Custom House Square in Belfast. 

“It’s going to be a great day out for everyone – a real occasion to Celebrate Life,” said organiser Íde Nic Mhathúna. “And most importantly it’s all about bringing people together to stand up for life and to join in the important work done to protect human life.”

Ms Nic Mhathúna said that international pressure was being brought to bear on Ireland’s pro-life laws and pointed to the ABC case sponsored by the Irish Family Planning Association currently before the European Court of Human Rights. “That case seeks to overturn our pro-life laws,” she said. “The rally is an important reminder to our politicians that the majority of Irish people are pro-life”.

She added that the rally was “an exciting catalyst for pro-life people, north and south, to become involved in various campaigns to keep Ireland abortion-free.”

One of the organising groups, the Life Institute, will launch a Summer of Life campaign at the Rally, focusing on the need to ensure that legislation promised by Mary Harney on the human embryo will protect life from conception.

Two days after the Rally Youth Defence’s National Pro-Life Roadshow gets under way visiting twenty towns and cities in ten days of non-stop pro-life activity. Up to 60 young people will take part in the event which reaches many thousands of people each year.

Spokeswoman Niamh Ui Bhriain said that whether or not unborn children felt pain before 24 week was really a moot point. “It doesn’t change the fact that abortion kills a living, growing, innocent child,” she pointed out. “But the RCOG are guilty of ignoring the evidence of experts regarding fetal pain.”

She added that it was no coincidence that the RCOG’s study comes out amid hints that pro-life members of the British Parliament—possibly including Conservative Party Prime Minister David Cameron—might want to pull back the UK’s legal time limit on abortions from 24 weeks to 20 weeks.

The Royal College hasn’t dissuaded Labor MP Jim Dobbin, a leader of the pro-life movement in the House of Commons, who told the London Evening Standard, “Other experts would differ. This does not diminish the case for lowering the limit.”

“This is a nakedly political attempt by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists to defend the status quo,” a spokesman for the Pro-Life Alliance said. “The RCOG are trying to stop abortion reform and will ignore the opposing side of the argument to suit their purposes.”

The Pro-Life Alliance both point to the research of American Dr. Kanwaljeet “Sunny” Anand, a researcher in pediatrics and anesthesia, who has been a leader in research suggesting that unborn children feel pain after 20 weeks in the womb.

Anand testified before Congress in 2005 that “based on evidence suggesting that the types of stimulation that will occur during abortion procedures, very likely most fetuses at 20 weeks after conception will be able to perceive that as painful, unpleasant, noxious stimulation.”

Anand “was not even consulted” in the RCOG’s study, the Pro-Life Alliance pointed out.

In the US National Right to Life accused the RCOG article as displaying a stunning lack of scholarship.

They said that “An objective expert in neurobiology would be appalled by the stunning lack of scholarship in the RCOG article. Its authors (predominantly abortion advocates and at least one abortionist) based their claim that unborn children do not experience pain before 24 weeks on the absence of complete nerve connection to the cortex before then.

“They ignore the seminal 2007 publication of “Consciousness without a cerebral cortex,” in the medical journal Behavioral and Brain Sciences and dismiss its evidence that children born missing virtually all of the cerebral cortex nonetheless experience pain.

The federal court of justice overturned a conviction yesterday against a lawyer who advised his client to remove the feeding tube of her 72-year-old mother in 2002.

Five years earlier, shortly before Erika Küllmer suffered a brain haemorrhage and lost consciousness, her daughter Elke Gloor said she had insisted she did not want to be kept alive artificially.

After consulting her lawyer, and with her own brother present, Ms Gloor cut the cable with a scissors only to have care facility staff reconnect it. Ms Küllmer died shortly after of natural causes.

The state prosecutor pressed charges against her daughter and the lawyer, Wolfgang Putz. Charges against Ms Gloor were dropped because the court ruled she had followed “mistaken” legal advice, while Mr Putz was given a nine-month suspended sentence for attempted manslaughter.

The federal court yesterday upheld the lawyer’s appeal against his conviction.

“In its ruling, the court argued that cutting the feeding tube made possible a “natural” death because it ended treatment that was being carried out against the patient’s will.

“A person’s free will must be respected, in all stages of life,” the judges ruled, insisting that “death on demand” remained a crime.

The Catholic Church said it needed more time to study the ruling, but expressed concern that the court had “not taken into account adequately the crucial ethical difference between active and passive assistance” in a suicide.

“We are concerned that not making this clear will result in ethical problems,” said the German Bishops’ Conference.

Assisted suicide is particularly controversial in Germany because of memories of the forced euthanasia programme in the Nazi era.

The Americans United for Life (AUL) Legal Team has diligently reviewed her past and her programs, and they assure us that she will be one of the worst things that could happen to the Court, and to our cause.

AUL says http://www.aul.org/2010/06/auls-kagan-file-the-case-against-kagan/ clearly that Kagan is unqualified to serve on the court for two major reasons:

She will be an agenda-driven judge who will use any source of law at her disposal to gain her desired outcome in a case. She is a pro-abortion ideologue who will take the court even further that Roe and Doe in denying protection to the unborn.

Kagan, who like any member of the high court, must exercise restraint in applying the law, and not impose her own personal preferences. But we have good reason to believe her decisions will be based on her own preferences.

Proof That Kagan Is Pro-Abortion Is Abundant. What confirms these fears?

Some of her favorite people include Arlen Specter, who suggests using foreign laws for some of the court’s major decisions, Judge Aharon Barak who says there is a basis for “interpretive inspiration” in decision-making, and Senate candidate Elizabeth Holtzman, a rabid supporter of abortion.

She has consistently supported pro-abortion political candidates, office-holders and judges. She has opposed any regulation on abortion. She has clerked for Abner Mikva and Justice Thurgood Marshall, worked for Michael Dukakis and Bill Clinton.

While working for Clinton, she supported partial-birth abortion even over his mild attempt to discourage funding of it, and managed to get him to fund it. She was furious when various medical associations opposed partial-birth abortion.

She supports funding for prisoners’ abortions, wants the states to pay for elective abortions, and believes that the government may make a value judgment favoring abortion over childbirth. She also supports cloning of human embryos for research and favors assisted suicide.

Solicitor General Kagan’s record is clear on the life issues. The AUL review of Kagan concludes:

Kagan’s disregard for the value of human life is at its most vulnerable state creates concern about how she will consider common sense abortion regulations and other cases that will come before the Court. She is deeply hostile to protecting the unborn, even when abortion is not an issue.

A Washington Times article calls Kagan, too political, too leftist, too inexperienced and too disrespectful towards existing law, to be confirmed for the U. S. Supreme Court. What we know about her should disturb fair-minded Americans and should embolden moderate senators of both parties to avoid rubber stamping her for a lifetime appointment. The pressure should be intense not on Republicans, but on Democrats who claim moderation and yet try to explain away Kagan’s history of leftist proselytizing.

The story points out that she has besmirched our military in time of war, is willing to undercut First Amendment free speech and much more—all bad.

We hope and pray that something will happen to prevent her from being found suitable to be another pro-abortion vote on the U. S. Supreme Court, but it looks like the cards are stacked against us.

Spokesman for Youth Defence, Dr Eoghan de Faoite, said they would be urging the thousands of people expected to attend the rally to become involved in a campaign to demand that legislation expected from Mary Harney later this year protects life from conception.

“Following the Supreme Court judgement in the RvR case involving frozen embryos, the Minister for Health, Mary Harney, has promised legislation on the human embryo. She has repeatedly referenced the report on the Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction, whose recommendations would allow for embryonic stem cell research and even human cloning. We need to ensure that the pro-life majority are listened to and that human life is protected from conception,” said Dr de Faoite.

He added that Youth Defence’s campaign would kick off immediately after the Rally with a Summer of Life planned which will reach at least 600,000 people by the end of the summer. “We’re having Roadshows, information stalls, and we’ll be using advertising campaigns, all focusing on the need to lobby the government to ensure embryo killing is banned in Ireland,” he said.

To see examples of previous Youth Defence campaigns against embryo research click here

The Rally for Life is organised by the Life Institute, Youth Defence, and Precious Life with other pro-life groups. It has become a colourful event, with a carnival-like atmosphere, attracting thousands of people to Celebrate Life.

“The theme of the rally is to ‘Celebrate Life’,” said Dr de Faoite. “And we need to ensure that we inform and motivate the pro-life majority to ensure life is celebrated, and protected, at all its stages.”

This is the fourth All-Ireland Rally for Life which takes place in Dublin or Belfast each year. 4,000 people attended the Rally last year in Dublin, and organisers say a growth in volunteers for pro-life work is one welcome result of the event.

There are still seats available on our buses to Belfast. Please ring the office if you would like to come Celebrate Life on July 3rd. Bring your family and friends to take a stand against abortion. It’s going to be the pro-life event of the year.

She made her remarks on the Pat Kenny Show on Friday as part of a discussion regarding assisted human reproduction.

Niamh Ui Bhriain of the Life Institute said Ms Greer was correct to state that the IVF industry were allowed to sell the procedure as a series of success stories “when in fact success rates were very low”. She added that the ethical problems attached to IVF were absent in alternatives such as NAPRO technology, and that NAPRO had been shown in a recent study to be more successful than IVF.

Greer and Kenny also discussed the treatment of human embryos who were discarded or killed in IVF and concluded that the natural method of having babies were the most beneficial to all involved.

Listen to the interview on http://www.rte.ie/radio1/todaywithpatkenny/

Taipei City plans to start paying couples to have babies starting January 1st, 2011, the city government has said, in the latest move by the Taiwanese central government to boost one of the world's lowest birth rates.

Municipal authorities will give NT$20,000 (US$625) for every newborn baby from next year and provide monthly subsidies for children aged under five years old in lower-income families whose household net income is less than NT$1.13 million annually. The city government said 20,000 newborn babies and 90,000 children are expected to benefit from this new program. “We hope the comprehensive plan will help young couples feel more relaxed about having children,” Taipei mayor Hau Lung-bin told reporters, adding the policy could cost NT$3 billion annually.

Hau said the plan would not crowd out budgets of other social welfare projects due to better tax revenues recently. In some cases, the city government will levy taxes on luxury residences next year and the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) is expected to boost Taiwan's economic recovery. Birth rates in Taipei dived to an all-time low in 2009 with only 19,403 babies being born, down 40 percent from a decade ago, according to the city government.

Various surveys have shown that many couples cited financial concerns, including rising child-care expenses, as their main reasons for not wanting to have babies.

Taiwan authorities have been offering varied incentives to encourage births amid growing concerns that a severe manpower shortage caused by low birth rates and an aging population will trigger serious social and economic problems. The nation's birth rate stood at 8.29 per 1,000 people last year, according to official figures. That compares with a global average of more than 20 births per 1,000 people, accordin

She said that previous correspondents who argued for abortion had “never stood in front of an abortion clinic, day after day, and listened to the women going in”, and pointed to poll after poll which “confirms that women who 'chose' abortion felt that they had no choice”.

“In reaction to this fear and panic, it is vital to respond with love for the gifts of motherhood and human life,” she continued. “Often, this is even more important than the practical, material help that we provide to women in a crisis pregnancy.”

“Legalising abortion, on the other hand, is a heartless and morally repugnant response that is essentially an act of aggression against women as well as their unborn children,” she wrote. “The abortion industry is a huge and extremely lucrative business with a grisly product to sell. So far, Ireland has resisted its deceptive and manipulative marketing.”

Mahoney then went on to call for the Irish people to have the courage to resist the abortion industry, saying: “If the European Court of Human Rights (backed by ideological scare-mongering from bureaucratic international NGOs) attempts to impose its pro-abortion agenda on Ireland at the conclusion of the ABC case, I hope the Irish will have the courage to resist this attack on human life.”

Ms Bradley said she spent weeks caring for her estranged husband, Leonard, as he lay dying from cancer.

In her husband’s final hours he seemed to be trying to tell his children that he loved them but was unable to speak.  Mrs. Bradley claimed that when Dr Martin turned up at their house, he “jabbed a needle” into her husband’s leg. She said her husband then tried to grab the doctor’s neck before swearing at him.

Mrs Bradley said she was already angry at Dr Martin because he had failed to turn up for a midnight appointment a few hours earlier. She said, “Dr Martin came back at lunchtime. I would not speak to him or look at him as I was so angry about what had happened. I heard him trying to explain to the children why he had not come back when he said he would.

“I then went upstairs with Dr Martin and I think [my daughter] Vicky was present. I recall clearly that Dr Martin jabbed a needle in my husband’s leg very forcefully. My husband shot up in bed and went for Dr Martin and said: 'You ------- -------.’”

“Those were my husband’s last words.”

Mrs Bradley said Dr Martin behaved strangely on his first visit the day before. “He sat at the kitchen table for at least half an hour and talked about various things including his son [who had died of cancer],” she said. When the GP went upstairs he pinched Mr Bradley and asked if he had a commode.

“We then came downstairs and Dr Martin discussed giving my husband an injection. He said it would make him go to sleep. He did not discuss this with my husband at all. “I asked Dr Martin what he meant. Dr Martin said he would not wake up again and I should telephone all of the family and get them round. “He said not to tell anyone else as this would make more paperwork for him.”

The doctor gave Mr Bradley an injection and left the syringe on a window sill. He failed to turn up at midnight. At 5am the following day Mr Bradley appeared to suffer a massive reaction.

Mrs. Bradley stated, “I do not think my husband wanted to die without seeing his children. He did not deserve to die like that.

Prepared by the UK’s Christine McCafferty for the PACE Social, Health and Family Affairs Committee, the draft declaration calls for the establishment of “comprehensive and clear legal and policy framework governing the practice of conscientious objection by healthcare providers” with an “effective oversight and complaint mechanism.”

Under the document’s guidelines, doctors would be obliged to provide patients with information on “all treatment options available” and to refer patients upon request. Moreover, in cases of “emergency” or “when referral to another healthcare provider is not possible,” the doctor with the conscientious objection would be obliged to “provide the desired treatment” against his will.

In a move that could have massive impact on Catholic health institutions, many of which receive state funding, the draft declaration also proposes that the “guarantee” for the right to conscientious objection should only be afforded to “individual healthcare providers directly involved in the performance of the procedure” and not to “public/state institutions such as public hospitals and clinics as a whole.”

“While recognising the right of an individual to conscientiously object to performing a certain medical procedure,” it says, the Parliamentary Assembly “is deeply concerned about the increasing and largely unregulated occurrence” of doctors and other health care workers refusing to provide “certain health services based on religious, moral or philosophical objections.”

This practice, the draft document says, is especially of concern “in the field of reproductive health care.” It speaks of the “need to balance the right of conscientious objection” with “the responsibility of the profession and the right of each patient to access lawful medical care in a timely manner.”

Apart from abortion, the document calls into question physicians’ conscience rights on providing artificial contraceptives and abortifacients such as the morning-after pill, assisted reproduction treatments, preimplantation diagnosis and prenatal “screening,” which often includes advice on abortion.

The document “invites” the 47 member states of the Council of Europe to “develop comprehensive and clear regulations that define and regulate conscientious objection.” It will be debated by the Parliamentary Assembly during its next Autumn plenary Session.

A draft document on “regulating” individual conscience is much in keeping with previous decisions by PACE which passed a resolution in 2008 declaring unlimited legal abortion an “unconditional right.”

With an impressive line-up of speakers, including Gianna Jessen, Lila Rose, Bryan Kemper, Dr Tony Levatino, John Pridmore, Bernie Smyth and more, it will be a truly informative and motivational weekend. And, of course, the craic is guaranteed.

Lila Rose is a young journalist whose undercover investigations have exposed the secrets of the abortion industry, including their cover-up of statutory rape and breach of laws protecting minors. Gianna Jessen is an amazing young woman who survived an abortion and whose eloquent and moving testimony has won many converts to the pro-life cause.

These speakers and others will address young people from every Irish county, attracted to Youth Defence’s pro-life work through information sessions, on campus or on the web. The conference is organised for young people, by young people and is key to building a pro-life future. The venue is St Patrick’s College, Maynooth and the date: 20 -22 November 2009.

If you plan on attending the conference you be pleased to know that you can book your place online right now at : http://www.youthdefence.ie/events/  Please book now as places are limited! This promises to be an unforgettable weekend with some exciting surprises in store.

Members of Youth Defence are delighted to be flying over to attend and show solidarity with their European counterparts who are fighting against abortion. “A group of YD members attended the Paris March for Life, where we were asked to speak about our work here in Ireland”, said Rebecca Roughneen. “And Marta Serranillos from the Spanish organising group, Derecho a Vivir, spoke at our own Rally for Life in July in Dublin. Pro-life activists across Europe say that they look to Ireland as their inspiration, because we have managed to keep our country abortion-free. While we should be proud of that achievement, we cannot forget about the children being killed in other countries; it’s so important that we all support each other as best we can”.

The March leaves from the Puerto del Sol in Madrid this Saturday the 17th  of October at 5pm.

Members of Youth Defence Espana will also travel to take party in the March for Life. Spokeswoman Ana Cabeza said that “The crisis in Spain had brought many groups and individuals together to become active against abortion”.

The conference, which is being organised by Youth Defence and their student affiliate, Ultrasound, and will be held in Maynooth, is set to attract young people from across the country and promises to live up the standard of YD’s much-praised International Activists’ Conferences.

“We’ve been fortunate enough to confirm booking for an amazing line-up of speakers, including Gianna Jessen, Dr. Tony Levatino a former abortion provider, Lila Rose, Bryan Kemper, and the always-popular John Pridmore, amongst others,” said Rebecca of YD. “We’ve just begun the initial contacts to build attendance and have got an extremely positive reaction so far.”

Rebecca said that YD and Ultrasound felt that the conference was the most appropriate event to motivate, educate and involve young people who had been contacted by pro-life outreaches on campus and through Roadshows. “We need to keep informing and building the next generation of pro-life leaders,” she said. “It’s an area that doesn’t receive enough focus and we’re hoping to change that with this conference.”

The conference will take place in St. Patrick’s College, Maynooth. It will start Friday 20th November until Sunday 22nd.

Check out the event on facebook and on the YD site  to keep updated and to book your place at the weekend event!