Ending the Years of Silence on Abortion
This Saturday 27th we Speak
Truth on Behalf of the Unborn
- Action Points for 27th October
- Science and Technology Committee: Abortion Consultation
- Dispatches documentary on abortion
Action Points for 27th October
It is now just 5 days until the 40th Anniversary of the passing of the Abortion Act in this country. This event is being marked by Christians gathering from all over the country to speak out on behalf of the unborn and women who find themselves with unplanned pregnancies. Please pray for the planned events, and attend on Saturday.
BEFORE THE DAY
Please pray that the events which have been planned will attract the Government’s attention.
Please pray about the rally, march and church services – that they would be a God-glorifying time of repentance and prayer for reform of attitudes and the law.
Please advertise the events in your church, your local newspaper and on your local radio. Put up posters in public places and hand out leaflets in church. We can supply you with everything you need. Please click on the links below which will take you to press releases and posters that you can use.
Press Releases – it is not too late to put out the press releases
General release to your local newspaper
http://www.ccfon.org/docs/PressRelease.docLetters’ editor of your local newspapers
http://www.ccfon.org/docs/LetterEditor.doc
Poster
http://www.ccfon.org/docs/martinleaflet.pdf (adobe file)
Please plan to attend the rally, march and church services. Bring your family, bring your friends, bring your church! We want as many Christians as possible to say that enough is enough and speak out on behalf of the unborn.
If you are unable to attend the events in London, please consider attending services where you live. For details about the London events and what other groups around the country are doing, please visit www.timeforchange.org.uk and look under ‘Events’. We hope and pray that the fortieth anniversary of abortion is something which will be remembered throughout the country.
ON THE DAY
The rally starts at 2pm, so please be at Old Palace Yard in good time.
There will be a series of speakers from 2pm until 2.30pm. They will speak of the need for a change in abortion law and practice and some will give personal testimonies.
The march begins at 3pm and we will be walking from Parliament to Westminster Cathedral. The march will be followed by two services of remembrance, healing and hope which will include worship, prayers and a short address. The service at Westminster Cathedral begins at 4pm. The service at Westminster Chapel begins at 5.15pm. From 4pm to 5pm there will be refreshments available at Westminster Chapel and a chance to pray.
Getting there
We recommend that you make use of the excellent transport links rather than bringing a car. There will be ample parking for coaches on Millbank. Coaches can collect people from outside the Cathedral at 5pm. If people are attending the service at Westminster Chapel, they will have to make their own way back to coaches after 6.15pm.
If you are using public transport, Victoria railway station is a twenty minute walk from Old Palace Yard, which is off Abingdon Road. The closest tube stations are Westminster and St James’s Park. Bus numbers 3 and 87 stop on Abingdon Road.
For more information on any of the above events, please visit www.timeforchange.org.uk or email Libby Blaxall at or call 02074076157. We will be very happy to give you all the information you need.
If you would like to contribute financially to the running of these events that we pray will touch the conscience of a Nation then please visit www.ccfon.org.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE: ABORTION CONSULTATION
Parliament is currently considering possible reforms to abortion law in light of scientific developments in recent years. There are calls from pro abortion and pro life groups to overhaul current legislation so the Government have to decide whether there are significant developments which would merit changes to the law.
Pro abortion groups want:
to keep the 24-week upper limit for abortions;
abortion on demand in the first three months of a pregnancy;
to remove the need for two doctors to agree to an abortion;
nurses to be allowed to perform medical abortions.
Pro life groups want:
a lowering of the upper limit for abortions;
women to be made more aware of the damaging physical, psychological and emotional effects of abortion.
The Science and Technology Committee have now published all the written submissions they received on the scientific developments relating to abortion. Please follow the links below to read the submissions, including the submission from the LCF.
They are now hearing oral evidence on the issues before they compile their final report. Last week the Committee heard evidence from a number of pro abortion doctors and neonatal specialists who did not see any compelling reasons for lowering the upper limit. Some doctors criticised evidence about the age at which a baby can feel pain. Others defended the woman’s right to have an abortion rather than continuing an unwanted pregnancy. Please pray that the action we take at the weekend will make these doctors and many others aware that unborn children are human lives, created by God in his image and worthy of protection under the law.
We thank God for the faithful evidence given by Peter Saunders from the Christian Medical Fellowship, and Professor John Wyatt and Dr Chris Richards. Please pray that God would use the evidence given to prompt the government to tighten current laws and make it more difficult for woman to have an abortion. Professor Patricia Casey also gave excellent evidence about the proven link between having an abortion and mental illness.
You can watch the evidence by clicking on the links below.
Links
Written submissions to the Science and Technology Committee
LCF Submission to the Science and Technology Committee
http://www.lawcf.org/index.asp?page=LCF+Response+to+Abortion+Consultation
Watch the evidence sessions
http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Player/index.aspx?Encoding=7422
http://www.parliamentlive.tv/Player/index.aspx?Encoding=7447
Attacks on religious belief about abortion
Dr Evan Harris, a Liberal Democrat MP, attacked Christian Medical Fellowship members who were giving evidence to the science and technology committee, by commenting that anything they say would be affected by their religious beliefs. He thought that beliefs about abortion would taint the discussion and could lead to moral and ethical arguments being put forward. Dr Trevor Stammers from the CMF replied to his comments in a letter published in The Guardian. Follow the link below to read it, and other letters.
Links
Evan Harris discredits contributions based on religious belief
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/oct/15/sciencenews.medicineandhealth
Letters published in the Guardian regarding Evan Harris’s statement
Dispatches documentary on abortion
Last week Channel 4 aired a documentary about the current plans to reform abortion law called “Abortion: What we need to know”. The programme showed the significant scientific developments which have been made since the 1967 Act and the reforms brought about in 1990. It also showed the relative ease with which women and young girls can receive abortions, as well as the heartbreak suffered by those who had been through abortions. The programme succeeded in making viewers think about the baby growing inside a woman as a human being worthy of protection.
Links
To view the Dispatches documentary on abortion go to the link below and download Channel 4’s “4oD” application
http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/dispatches/abortion+what+we+need+to+know/923747