Saturday 15 August 2009

Catholic Church in Scotland challenges Scottish government and GPs on abortions on under-15s

It was instructive to wake up in Scotland this morning and to read about the Scottish Catholic Church's attack on the Scottish government for its abortion policy. (I am in Glasgow for a meeting of SPUC's Scottish Board which will be discussing exciting plans for the next international student pro-life conference in March 2010. Contact Lucy McCully for more information at lucy@spucscotland.org).

Peter Kearney (pictured right), a spokesman for the Catholic Church in Scotland, makes no bones about where the blame lies for the "appalling and distressing" abortion figures for girls under the age of 15. He says:
"If anything it indicates that the government's sexual health strategy, which was created by the last administration and perpetuated by the current administration, is working perfectly.

"Because part of that strategy was fast and instant access to widespread abortion services. Unfortunately, it is completely the wrong strategy."
In the Scottish edition of today's Daily Telegraph, Peter Kearney is even more challenging. He says:
"They are all girls below the age of consent and that asks a very serious question of GPs in Scotland. To what extent did they follow this up and make sure cases were referred to the relevant authorities? Each of these cases represents a potential crime."
This is the kind of challenge which churches, pro-life groups, and parents should be making to the British government. Its policies have the potential to lead to crimes - crimes against life, crimes against the family and breaches of the criminal law in relation to the age of consent.

Earlier this week I referred to the state-sponsored abuse of children in Yorkshire, courtesy of the National Health Service in Sheffield. And I have frequently expressed my concern about the ambiguous policy of the Catholic Education Service of England and Wales which welcomes the presence in Catholic schools of Connexions. Connexions is a government agency which is committed to giving schoolchildren, under the age of 16, access to abortion and abortifacient birth control drugs and devices without parental knowledge or permission. As a result of this policy, it's clear that children in Catholic schools are being given such access, in spite of Connexions' undertaking to respect the Catholic ethos of the schools.

Whatever the disastrous chain of decisions which led to the CES policy, it must be changed.

Why should parents have to fear having their children handed over to the abortionists?

The robust comments of Peter Kearney are exactly the kind of thing that's needed  - from headteachers, parents, church-leaders and authorities acting on behalf of bishops.


Comments on this blog? Email them to johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk
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