One of the most appalling miscarriages of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), a Chamber Judgment through which the Court’s Second Chamber would de facto have turned surrogacy and illegal child trafficking into a "human right" has fortunately been overturned: a Grand Chamber of the Court that has reviewed the case Paradiso and Campanelli v. Italy today found that – contrary to the Chamber’s assessment one year ago – the decision of Italian authorities to withdraw from the custody of an Italian couple a child that was not biologically related to either of them, but which they had bought from a Russian "reproduction clinic" for the price of 45.000 Euro, did not violate anyone’s "human rights".
In the News
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January 24th, 2017
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January 24th, 2017
Conservative Christian MPs have warned the government against any temptation to "thwart" the will of the British people following today's Supreme Court decision.
Leave campaigners said Parliament must move forward now and allow Article 50 to be triggered so that Britain can begin the process to leave the European Union.
The Supreme Court today ruled against the government, forcing ministers to consult MPs before triggering the UK's exit from the EU.
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January 24th, 2017
The Arbitration and Mediation Services (Equality) Bill [HL] is a private member’s bill introduced by Baroness Cox (Crossbench). The Bill received its first reading in the House of Lords on 25 May 2016 and is scheduled to receive its second reading on 27 January 2017. The Bill would seek to make further provision about arbitration and mediation services and the application of equality legislation to such services.
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January 24th, 2017
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 238 to 183 today to permanently ban taxpayer funding of abortion.
The No Taxpayer Funding of Abortion Act (HR 7), introduced by Rep. Chris Smith, R-NJ, makes permanent the so-called Hyde Amendment permanent. Thus far the amendment, which prohibits federal money from being used to fund abortions through Medicaid, has been subject to annual renewal.
The Charlotte Lozier Institute estimates the Hyde Amendment has saved over two million lives since it was enacted in 1976.
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January 24th, 2017
One Sunday morning in August, three policemen came to Don Ossewaarde’s home in Russia, where the Baptist missionary from Illinois was holding his weekly Bible study.
"Afterwards, they took me to the police station and charged me with conducting missionary activities in violation of a new law that took effect on July 20, 2016," Ossewaarde wrote. "At a court hearing, I was found guilty and sentenced to pay a fine of 40,000 rubles, which is over $600."
Ossewaarde was snagged by Russia’s new anti-terrorism law that President Vladimir Putin approved last summer. The "Yarovaya law" calls for tighter restrictions on missionaries and evangelism, and has resulted in at least 32 prosecutions since it went into effect in July.
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January 24th, 2017
Tears filled her eyes as she told me her story: an older boyfriend, pressure to have sex, pregnant at fourteen, and an abortion to cover the shame. Even though she’d been raised in a Christian family, the weight of guilt that followed these early choices led to years of wandering.
She questioned, "Is there grace enough for me?"
The tide of abortion’s guilt rises high, threating to engulf a woman’s entire life with shame, regret, and feelings of unworthiness. Statistics report nearly three in ten women will have an abortion. These numbers speak to the reality that our churches are filled with women who have had abortions (and men who have encouraged abortions).
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January 23rd, 2017
China Aid recently released a summary of religious persecution across in China in 2016, noting how Communist Party terminology shifted from guiding religions and socialism into mutual adaptation into a promoting the full-on Sinicization of religious beliefs.
According to the summary, 2016 brought a major change in the Communist Party’s approach to religious management. Under the administration of former Chinese president Jiang Zemin, the role of the Party in regards to religion was to encourage it to mutually adapt with socialism. In April of last year, however, current Chinese president Xi Jinping convened National Religious Conference for the first time since 2001 and introduced the idea of "Sinicizing" religions; that is, forcing them to conform to the Chinese government’s agenda.
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January 23rd, 2017
The Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) published a study by Aaron J. Trachtenberg MD DPhil, Braden Manns MD MSc titled: Cost analysis of medical assistance in dying,
The researchers found that the Canadian healthcare system will save between 34.7 and 138.8 million dollars per year, depending on the number of euthanasia deaths. Canada has a universal healthcare system, whereby the financial cost for healthcare is primarily covered by the government.
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January 23rd, 2017
President Donald Trump today signed an executive order to defund International Planned Parenthood.
Most pro-life Americans are anxiously awaiting Congress to pass a bill to defund the Planned Parenthood abortion business. While that defunding legislation concerns the domestic-based Planned Parenthood abortion corporation, President Trump has the ability to put in place an executive order that would revoke funding for its International affiliate.
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January 23rd, 2017
Ecumenism, the Anglican Communion, and legislation will dominate next month's meeting of the Church of England's general synod; but it is a "take-note" debate on human sexuality that is likely to dominate the headlines. On ecumenism, the Synod will consider the first draft of new legislation designed to simplify the way the C of E relates to other churches; and will also debate a motion on the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. The secretary general of the Anglican Communion, Dr Josiah Idowu-Fearon will address the Synod. And the House of Bishops will report back on their deliberations on human sexuality.
The Bishops of Norwich and Willesden, Graham James and Pete Broadbent, will report to the Synod on the work of the Bishops' Reflection Group on Sexuality – that group was established last year following the completion of a process of shared conversations throughout the C of E. Synod members will then take part in group discussions before a debate on a motion that "the Synod do take note of [a] Report" from the House of Bishops. That report has not yet been published.