Threats to Life at its Earliest Stages

Pro-Life Conference, Ealing Abbey, 15th October 2011

Life begins at conception FACT!

The development of a human being begins with fertilization, a process by which two highly specialised cells, the spermatozoon from the male and the oocyte from the female, unite to give rise to a new organism, the zygote. (Langman, Jan. Medical Embryology. 3rd edition. Baltimore: Williams and Wilkins, 1975, p. 3)

Although life is a continuous process, fertilization is a critical landmark because, under ordinary circumstances, a new, genetically distinct human organism is thereby formed....The embryo now exists as a genetic unity. (O'Rahilly, Ronan and Mller, Fabiola. Human Embryology & Teratology. 2nd edition. New York: Wiley-Liss, 1996, pp. 8, 29.)

Different approaches to how we view the embryo

No special status whatsoever

A gradualist approach

Full respect as a human being

Practices that do not respect life at its earliest stage

In Vitro Fertilisation

Embryo Research/Human Cloning

Chemical Contraception

We recommend that no live human embryo derived from IVF, whether frozen or unfrozen, may be kept alive, if not transferred to a woman, beyond 14 days, after fertilisation
Warnock Report, 1984
Baroness Mary Warnock

UK has one of the most liberal approaches in the world HFEA criticised for having crossed the boundary from regulation to advocacy Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008 has an anything goes attitude

Since 1990, there have been over 2 million human embryos have been destroyed through IVF & experimentation

If we maintain that the developing embryo is deserving of the same respect as other humans, this is a grave injustice

What ideas drive this lack of respect for the embryo?

A right to a child

Potentially unlimited cures

Pursuit of knowledge without boundaries

Scientific justification for the HFE Act 2008 regarding hybrids, given to Parliamentary Committee Dr Lovell-Badge said: I cannot think of a good experiment to do now but I am sure someone will think of a good experiment.

Professor Bobrow said: We are also not aware of any pressing scientific reasons at the moment for creating such entities, but who knows what tomorrow might bring?

A child is not something owed to one but is a gift. The supreme gift of marriage is a human person. A child may not be considered a piece of property, an idea to which an alleged right to a child would lead. In this area, only the child possesses genuine rights: the right to be the fruit of the specific act of the conjugal love of his parents, and the right to be respected as a person from the moment of his conception.
Catechism of the Catholic Church (no. 2378)

Abortion

Abortion Act 1967

Abortion legal up to 24 weeks

unless theres a risk that the child might be disabled in some way, then abortion is legal up to full term

Abortionlethal discrimination

An abnormal foetus is not aborted because it would die, but on the contrary because it would be healthy enough to live a sub-human existence. Essentially it is for social, ethical and aesthetic reasons that some people recoil from the survival of such sub-humans and prefer to see them aborted."
(M Simms and Keith Hindell, Abortion Law Reformed, London: Peter Owen, 1971)

Abortionthe lesser evil?

you cannot separate womens rights from their right to fertility control. The single biggest factor in womens liberation was our newly found ability to impose our will on our biology As ever, when an issue we thought was black and white becomes more nuanced, the answer lies in choosing the lesser evil. The nearly 200,000 aborted babies in the UK each year are the lesser evil, no matter how you define life, or death, for that matter. If you are willing to die for a cause, you must be prepared to kill for it, too.

Antonia Senior, The Times, 30 June 2010

In 2010, there were the following number of abortions

Which means there are this many abortions every day

555 every day in the UK

Since 27th April 1968, this number of children have been aborted in the UK

Thank goodness for pro-life Ireland!

Article 2: Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration, without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status

Article 3: Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security of person.

Article 6: Everyone has the right to recognition everywhere as a person before the law

Supreme Court of America

The question before us is, whether the class of persons described {descendants of slaves}are constituent members of this sovereignty? We think they are not, and that they are not included, and were not intended to be included under the word citizens in the Constitutionthey were considered as a subordinate and inferior class of beingsand had no rights or privileges but such as those who held the power and the Government might choose to grant them
Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 US 393 (1856)

Lightning strikes twice

The word person, as used in the Fourteenth Amendment, does not include the unborn
Roe v Wade, 410 US 113 (1973)

UK justice is not much better

the foetus has no right of action, no right at all, until birth.

Paton v British Pregnancy Advisory Service Trustees, [1979] QB 276

European Court of Human Rights

the unborn child is not regarded as a person directly protected by Article 2 of the Convention (the right to life)
Vo v France (53924/00), (2005) 40 EHRR 12

The promotion of the culture of life should be the highest priority in our societies If the right to life is not defended decisively as a condition for all other rights of the person, all other references to human rights remain deceitful and illusory. Pope John Paul II

THE GREATEST DESTROYER OF PEACE TODAY IS ABORTIONBECAUSE IF A MOTHER CAN KILL HER OWN CHILD, WHAT IS LEFT FOR ME TO KILL YOU AND YOU KILL ME. THERE IS NOTHING IN BETWEEN. MOTHER TERESA NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER 1979

Men & abortion

All this is a bit depressing Joe, dont you have any good news to tell us?!

Funny you mention that young one, I was just coming to that!

HELPING KEEP IRELAND ABORTION FREE AT THE ALL IRELAND RALLY FOR LIFE JULY 2010

Culture of Life v Culture of Death

The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.

Matthew 7:27

You know, in this whole abortion debate, no one has asked me what I think!

Well, nows your chance young onewhat do you think of abortion?

Abortion? I can live without it!!