Pro-Life News
16th February 2010: Assisted suicide and the BBC
ALERT reports that Ann Winterton MP has tabled an Early Day Motion in the House of Commons complaining at the supposedly impartial BBC's blatant bias is attempting to have assisted suicide made legal.
The motion says:That this House notes that
over the years there have been numerous complaints by Hon. Members regarding the persistent bias of the BBC on matters relating to euthanasia and other life issues and on the manner in which the BBC have misused public funds to promote changes in the law;
further notes the bias of the Corporation applies not only to news programmes but to drama, with thinly-disguised plays and soap operas being used to promote the use of euthanasia and misrepresentation of pro-life activists in the UK as people of violence;
further notes that these presentations have culminated in the last weeks with a multi-million pound campaign featuring Mrs Kay Gilderdale in Panorama and the fantasy fiction writer, Sir Terry Pratchett given centre stage to present this year's BBC Richard Dimbleby lecture calling for euthanasia and supported by the BBC website;
further notes that, as usual the BBC have ignored the rights of the disabled, despite the fact that every disability rights group in the UK is opposed to the legalisation of assisted suicide and euthanasia on the grounds that from experience they know it would undermine the right to life of the disabled;
and calls on the Government to make it clear to the BBC that public funds will be withdrawn unless they abide by the Charter and ensure that all programmes on issues of public interest are treated impartially, and that in particular broadcasters must bear in mind the human rights of the disabled.
Would you contact your MP and ask him or her to sign EDM 787 about the BBC and the disabled?
Your MP's postal address is House of Commons, Westminster, London SW1A OAA. You can find your MP's name and e-mail address by following this link
7th February 2010: A Quarterback for Life
Last year, we reported that Jamie Carragher, Liverpool FC’s combative defender had described in his autobiography how his mother refused to have him aborted against the advice of the doctors, who thought that the baby would suffer from spina bifida.
Tonight, at SuperBowl XLIV in the USA, there will be a similar story concerning Tim Tebow, who graduated from college in December and is rated as one of the best young quarterbacks in the country. Tim was born after a very difficult pregnancy in which his mother developed amoebic dysentery and temporarily fell into a coma. The doctors advised abortion, but she refused.
During Superbowl, CBS is scheduled to broadcast a pro-life ad which features Tim’s mother Pam discussing her decision to refuse her doctor's advice. This has caused a furore amongst pro-choice groups in the USA who are lobbying for the ad to be withdrawn. It is not known whether the CBS will bow to the pressure.
We can guess what would happen in the UK if a similar advert were proposed – our TV channels would not touch it.
For a fuller account, navigate to this article in Lifesite News
1st February 2010: Pro-life marches - Media Malpractice
In the previous post, Dr Moynihan reported how the media continues to ignore news that does not match its own world view. Thomas Peters, a young Catholic with graduate degrees in Theology and who works in Washington DC, posts as American Papist . On his site yesterday, he showed the following video of the Washington march.
CNN and Newsweek were singled out as particularly economical with the truth. Their reporters gave equal billing to the handful of prochoice demonstrators that faced an estimated 400,000 pro-life marchers. The other cry was the lack of young women - wrong(!) and the so called predominance of the elderly (also wrong - the proportion was about 10%).
The Narrator concludes that more than any event, this march this proves the eye-popping corruption of the main stream media
The same story was repeated in San Francisco, a city noted for its liberal outlook, where 40,000 pro-life marchers outnumbered the handful of pro-choice demonstrators by about 500-1.
As in Washington, the media tried to spin the story to downplay the pro-life turn out.
22nd January 2010: Huge Pro-Life March in Washington - but ignored by the Media
Dr Robert Moynihan writes a regular newsletter commenting on Catholic News both inside the Vatican and elsewhere. This week he reported on the huge prolife march which takes place in Washington on 22nd January each year. The date is chosen to commemorate the anniversary of the infamous "Roe vs. Wade" judgment which was on 22nd January 1973. Since this ruling, over 50 million babies have been aborted in the USA.
January can be a cruel month in Washington with bitter cold and snow and ice. And it is therefore remarkable that so many people turn up to march to try to convince America's lawmakers and Supreme Court Justices to overturn "Roe vs. Wade" as unjust.
Moynihan says that the prolife march in January is one of the largest public gatherings year after year, always over 200,000 people. This year it looked more like 300,000 and some estimate 500,000. But year after year the march is almost totally ignored by the news media.
Moynihan also feels that the movement has so far lacked an articulate spokesman, but this year a rather charismatic figure has emerged – Professor Robert George, a Roman Catholic who teaches Law at Princeton University. He also co-authored the "Manhattan Declaration" which was signed on 20th November 2009 and has since attracted over 400,000 signatures, mostly in the USA but many overseas.
Professor George was the keynote speaker at the annual Rose Dinner held at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Capitol Hill on the evening of 22 January. His speech was a clarion call to the continued commitment to the prolife cause. He criticised actions of both Republicans and Democratic presidents. He had harsh words for the present Democratic president, Barack Obama, who "will continue to try to undermine the pro-life cause." He also said those Evangelicals and Catholics who "abet" the president by arguing that he is in fact "pro-life" are wrong.
He recalled the example of William Wilberforce who was tireless in his commitment to end slavery, though he was branded a "zealot," a "religious fanatic," an "enemy of freedom," someone who was "imposing his religious beliefs on others."
"Sound familiar?" George asked. "But Wilberforce refused to be intimidated."
He cited Mother Teresa, noting that she had said that "prayer is the most powerful weapon." And he noted that she had called on America to be "true to yourself – be faithful to the ideals you have."
"Will we achieve our goal?" he asked. "Will abortion finally go the way of slavery?"
He said he "dared to hope" that "the killing of the unborn" would someday be "not only unlawful but unthinkable."
George concluded: "Let us become finally and fully, once and for all, a nation dedicated to the principle that all men are created equal."
You can read about this and other news from the Vatican by signing up to Dr Robert Moynihan's blog or newsflash using this link to The Moynihan Report