Monday 22 April 2013

Why the government's plans to redefine marriage must be opposed

On Saturday I spoke to the Union of Catholic Mothers of the Archdiocese of Southwark, at Amigo Hall next to St George's cathedral. You can read a report of my address on the SPUC website. In summary, I said:
  • David Cameron and his government were seeking to deny children’s birthright, to be brought up by both a mother and a father, by institutionalising fatherless and motherless families.
  • Legalising same sex marriage is not about being nice to people with same-sex attraction and letting them get married if they want to. It is about the destruction of the oldest human institution in the world which protects the mental and physical wellbeing of men, women and children
  • Research by Dr Patricia Morgan, commissioned by SPUC and presented to Parliament, shows that in countries in which same-sex marriage has been legalized, real marriage is undermined.
  • Government statistics on abortion clearly show that unborn children are four to five times less likely to be aborted if they are conceived within marriage. Undermining marriage will result in more unborn children being killed.
  • Same-sex couples will demand the right to have children – making it even more difficult for pro-life groups effectively to oppose in vitro fertilisation. Defending the right to life of unborn children will be increasingly viewed as an attack on the rights of homosexual couples.
  • Same-sex marriage is about the sexual rights of adults. Real marriage is about best interests of children.
  • Claims by government ministers that a teachers will continue to have the right to teach children that marriage is between a man and a woman do not stand up to legal scrutiny nor to statements made by political leaders such as David Cameron, Nick Clegg, and Ed Balls.
  • Schools will come under further pressure to teach pupils about homosexual sex.
  • Whether the battle is won or lost on the government’s same-sex marriage bill, those in society, including the UCM, who have a clear understanding of what’s at stake must maintain an unceasing educational campaign to warn parents and the general public about the impact of same-sex marriage legislation.
  • Unless we continue to insist, through taking our information door-to-door throughout the country, future generations of children will simply never know, still less experience for themselves, that the natural habitat for children is the family based on the marriage of a man and a woman as a permanent exclusive union, as upheld in international human rights instruments.
  • We must act now to prevent our country descending into centuries of barbarism.
  • I urge members of the UCM to write to their Members of Parliament calling on them to vote against the third reading of the Marriage (Same Sex) Couples Bill. Briefings can be found at www.spuc.org.uk
  • I urge UCM foundations to leaflet their parish churches on the weekends of 5th May and 12th May – since the third reading of the Bill could be as early as the week beginning 20th May. Leaflets are available from SPUC. Telephone me at 020 7820 3128 or email me at johnsmeaton@spuc.org.uk
  • I appeal to leaders to come forward who would be willing to organize a team of people locally to provide a permanent outreach to the local community. We need 900 groups who are each capable of leafleting 10,000 local homes.
  • I greet the West Norwood UCM foundation at whose meeting on 21st February 1951 my birth of the day before had been announced!
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