According to the Telegraph
The law may be changed to allow “abortion on request” by ending the need for doctors to give permission for a termination, it has been disclosed.
The change is being backed by Lord Steel, the architect of Britain’s abortion laws, who has called for a more liberal regime to bring Britain into line with many Continental nations.
Under the existing Abortion Act, drawn up in 1967, a termination can take place only after two doctors formally agree that the procedure is medically necessary.
That requirement may become the subject of a Commons vote next month when MPs debate the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, which could be used to amend Lord Steel’s 1967 Abortion Act.
The change is being backed by Lord Steel, the architect of Britain’s abortion laws, who has called for a more liberal regime to bring Britain into line with many Continental nations.
Under the existing Abortion Act, drawn up in 1967, a termination can take place only after two doctors formally agree that the procedure is medically necessary.
That requirement may become the subject of a Commons vote next month when MPs debate the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, which could be used to amend Lord Steel’s 1967 Abortion Act.
15 comments:
I'd read the background a little more carefully Father. The headline was designed to scare us, but it was really just Lord Steele and the abortionists reiterating what they *wanted* the outcome of the upcoming debate in the House of Commons to be. The Telegraph was indulging in a little journalistic mischief. THey could just as easily have run a headline that said, "Abortion Restrictions on the Way" and interviewed the pro-life MP's and supporters talking about what *they* wanted to happen.
There are words for what the Telegraph was up to with that non-story: rumour mongering is one.
It is the fondest wish of the abortionist crowd that the upcoming debate on the HFE Bill will result in the sweeping away of all abortion restrictions and the creation of a Canadian situation with legal abortion. What their chances are I am not qualified to say, but until the bill is actually debated, and amendments put in place, it is not a very good idea to perpetuate brazen media manipulation or alarmism.
It would be very helpful to the cause of the angels in this country if the good guys got a little more savvy.
Why don`t we have a more co-ordinated response to pro-life action in this country? It seems that efforts are very much divided and so, less effective. I watch Mass movements such as the "March for Life" in America, where entire schools, colleges and universities take to the streets to swell the millions crying out for an end to abortion. What I see in the UK is little groups huddled on street corners with a few banners. I go with a friend to pray outside our local abortion clinic every few weeks. Two people standing in the rain, muttering. Hardly a great pro-life witness, is it. Everyone's trying to make a difference, but wouldn`t it be so much better if we had a national March for Life? Maybe if things come to much more of a diabolical head, with the embyology legislation and the further relaxing of the Abortion Act, we might have no choice. Parliament is not being challenged properly.
Here's an answer for Bernadette.
There's a mass lobby of Parliament coming up soon on the HFE Bill, details at
http://www.passionforlife.org.uk
Since I live in the constituency of Brighton Pavilion that means, for me, going to see David Lepper.
I have a sock puppet for an MP. He seems to have no independent judgement whatsoever. He seems never to speak or vote unless he has someone else's hand up his back.
Since talking to him is like talking to the wall, I suggest a change of strategy.
Put in front of your MP the relevant extracts from the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
Tell your MP that these are teachings that the Lord Jesus Christ will vindicate at the Last Judgement.
Then tell your MP he can either take it. Or he can, at his eternal risk, leave it.
The Catholic Action UK website/blogspot provides reliable steers, I find, on the truth of stories. They seem to back the Telegraph up, with a briefing that this is not the time to be hoping for a reduction in the upper tme limit for abortions.
Why don`t we have a more co-ordinated response to pro-life action in this country?
Bernadette:
Because no one has coordinated one.
When I was in pro-life work in Canada, I compared our situation with the work being done in the US, how successful it was, how well-funded, well organized, motivated and focused. How professional in other words. I and my younger pro-life friends lamented that the Canadians were such a pack of hangdog amateurs who had no organization and not a shred of professionalism. Meanwhile, the pro-abortion crowd was run by highly paid professionals, fundraisers, lawyers, political organizers etc. By contrast we were a defeatist group of elderly housewives holding occasional bake sales and cute little pickets with polite little signs once or twice a year.
I thought that the Canadian pro-life movement was hoplessly outclassed and unprofessional.
When I got here, and met some of the long-time pro-lifers in this country, I amended my opinion of the Canadians several notches up.
I've never been so discouraged by a group of people who palpably did NOT WANT to do anything but show up to a meeting once a month. The message I got, loud and clear, was 'don't ask us to do anything' and don't ask us for any money.
The pro-life "movement" in Canada is indeed in a bad way. But at least there is a movement.
Britain deserves what it gets, in many ways.
If you want to see something like what is happening in the US, the first thing you have to do is get all the little disparate groups together in the same building.
I was shocked to discover that there was no such thing as a national pro-life and pro-family conference here. Nothing will happen to gell the little groups into a movement until you actually get the people into the same room and meeting each other and working out what they can do together.
Nothing.
Well, Hilary. Then GET THEM TOGETHER. This is obviously why you came back.
And no, we haven`t been introduced.
But you are more than welcome to come and have tea/sunday lunch/breakfast/morning coffee/midnight co-co with us. I think we don`t live far from you.
It`s pathetic that we don`t have the organisational skills to get it together in a country this size. If America can do it.....
The PAssionforlife people think they are organising something for around the HFE debate time in London. But I think it needs to be more creative than that. It`ll be yet another March. Do you know who your MP is and have you got some balloons, some flour and some RED food colouring..........
(it`s the only way to get on the front page of the Daily Hell, dear)
I'm retired.
Where is "not too far"?
Why not email me. I like meeting people.
Yes, another tiny insignificant march organised by one group in isolation from all the other tiny little groups who have no contact or even awareness of each other's existence.
The march for life in Canada is the culmination of a lot of work that can only happen if groups across the country are in contact. It took years to get to the stage of organising marches in Ottawa and five years of marches in Ottawa for the numbers to increase to anything significant.
As to marches themselves, I'm not sure the political climate is such now that they are very useful by themselves. If they can be said to represent a significant portion of the general public's opinions, then perhaps, but the general public is only slightly more woefully ignorant of the issues and arguments than the pro-lifers themselves. I believe that marches as a political tool are a relic of previous eras and serve to do little more than bolster the enthusiasm of the participants.
Other avenues need to be pursued to change public opinion to the point that it becomes politically expedient to approach the abortion law with significant restrictions. Until then, attempts at legislative change are likely to backfire badly, as is the case currently with the well-intentioned but naive attempts to lower the age limit happening right now. Nadine Dorries has a very murky understanding of what she is doing and I'm afraid, a very inconsistent and dismally inadequate concept of the issue of abortion in general, nurse though she may have been.
No, from what I have observed, there is a great deal of work that needs to be done and no one willing to do it.
Bernadette, I don't think any of the major Pro-Life groups would welcome any political association with a supporter of the violent, racist BNP.
Pro-Life affirms the dignity of all human persons regardless of their ethnic or religious background. Support for or membership of parties with explicitly racist policies such as the BNP is thus incompatible with any official role in a Pro-Life organisation.
Putting on my official hat, I can categorically state that the All Party Parliamentary Pro Life Group has no interest whatsoever in working with Hilary White for the above mentioned reasons.
You yourself would do well to examine a person's political views before inviting them to organise Pro-Life activists so as to avoid bringing the movement into disrepute, or causing yet another damaging split.
Ah, British pro-life cohesiveness.
If anyone is actually interested in my political affiliation: I am a card carrying member and support of the Conservatives.
But of course, showing any interest in the BNP, or in the very interesting political implications of their recent successes is sufficient to get tarred isn't it?
The glorious British dedication to freedom of expression and inquiry demonstrated.
As I said.
Retired.
I find, Anastasia, that the Holy Spirit uses whoever He wills for His work to be accomplished.
If the three mainstream Political parties in this country had acknowledged their duty to grapple with the increasing problems of unchecked migration and enforced multi-culturalism(A secular concept. The Catholic church has always promoted respect for the individual, regardless of race, colour or creed), then the rise of Neo-Nazis, such as the BNP would have been held in check. But, they abandoned that duty, and now, that problem is being dealt with by the party who should not be dealing with it at all. The BNP. I find them abhorrent and revolting. I have met Nick Griffin and several of his cohorts. It isn`t pleasant. To make the waters even more murky, the BNP are now the only democratic party that are shouting loudly about wanting to put an end to abortion. You can seen how the Molatov Cocktail is taking shape.
None of us is perfect or lives perfect lives. Politics involves making calculated compromises in order to inch forward. Unity is always imperfect in these strongholds. I do sometimes wonder whether the all-party parliamentary Pro-life group sincerely seeks an end to abortion itself.. What exactly are they doing about it ? It seems to me that the slope is getting slippier by the day. I thankyou for the warning,. but I already understood the situation. As did Jesus when He went and ate with prostitutes and tax-collectors.
Out of interest, what is the all-party-parliamentratry pro-life group doing about the HFE debate up-coming ? It will be encouraging for the ordinary muppets on the street to know exactly how much support we have.
Also. as an added post-script, which is relevant... you might be interested to know, Anastasia, that one of the UK's major pro-life groups has been employing someone who ridicules the Catholic Church's teaching on abortion ( let alone contraception and chastity), who owns two lap-dancing clubs in the Midlands ( which as we know, are legalized brothels. You pay a bit more and you can go out the back for a bit more. If it goes wrong, you can have an abortion.) This mentor has procured more than one abortion from female colleagues, regularly boasts of his one-night stands, and fathered a child himself as a teenager, from whom he walked away. He has said to me that he thinks that particular pro-life group is " a bunch of F****ing nutters" When I asked him why he is working for them, then, he said "I'll say anything that anyone wants me to, as long as they pay me." and from what he says, they pay quite well. My collection money and yours, Anastasia.
He has also been used by the church as an example of how not to become a teenage pregnancy statistic, by promoting a sex education programme that has been funded by the Department of Health. You really couldn`t make it up. And it really couldn`t be much worse.
I have a lot more evidence where that came from. So, whilst I respect your cautioning to be careful, I can promise you, THAT line was crossed a long, long time ago by the very people who we thought were the guardians of human life.
I`m afraid, the gloves really are off. And it really is war.
The only time I have ever been beaten up was by the fellow travellers of the BNP, they are really a very wicked group, even, Satanic group.
If any Life group is associated with them, this is really very dangerous to our holy cause.
Rotten trees and rotten fruit comes to mind.
Also. as an added post-script, which is relevant... you might be interested to know, Anastasia, that one of the UK's major pro-life groups has been employing someone who ridicules the Catholic Church's teaching on abortion ( let alone contraception and chastity), who owns two lap-dancing clubs in the Midlands ( which as we know, are legalized brothels. You pay a bit more and you can go out the back for a bit more. If it goes wrong, you can have an abortion.) This mentor has procured more than one abortion from female colleagues, regularly boasts of his one-night stands, and fathered a child himself as a teenager, from whom he walked away. He has said to me that he thinks that particular pro-life group is " a bunch of F****ing nutters".
In all seriousness, Bernadette, (and I do have one or two more things to say to Anastasia and the gloriously successful Parliamentary pro-life caucus), what you have said here is very important.
Could you please email me off this list about it?
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