Abortion and related news.

London -- Conservative MP Ann Winterton brought in a private member's bill in the House of Commons requiring mandatory counselling followed by a 7-day cooling-off period before an abortion could be performed. The bill was defeated by 182-107. It was the third unsuccessful private member's bill on abortion in the past eight months.

Ms. Winterton has supported Scottish Cardinal Keith O'Brien's advice to Catholic politicians to abstain from Communion if they support abortion. The Cardinal, who has received messages of support from across the world has also been supported by Cardinal Murphy O'Connor (England) and Archbishop Peter Smith (Wales). James Dowson of the UK Life League says his organization intends to expose the voting records of Catholic MP's and "reveal their hypocrisy" (Tablet, June 9, 2007).

Father John Flynn, reflecting on the renewed abortion debate in Britain, notes that Britons were recently shocked to learn that 1 in 30 aborted babies actually survived the procedure. Between 1995 and 2004, 102 babies aborted for handicaps such as Down Syndrome were born alive. Aborted generally between 20 and 24 weeks gestation, these babies lived for 80 minutes on average. (Zenit, June 10, 2007).

The UK has not only the highest teenage pregnancy rates in Europe but now is viewing a rapid increase in sexually transmitted diseases among "gay" men and young people. Oblivious to the fact that sex-ed school programs only encourage such activities, the government not only continues on this path but now proposes to expand it through a program of "contraceptive counsellors" for repeat teenage mothers. (Lifesitenews.com, July 25, 2007)

The Optimum Population Trust (OPT) have opined that Britain faces environmental disaster from overpopulation. They recommend that British couples should observe a two-child maximum family.

With a population of 60 million, Britain is certainly one crowded little island, but most of the increase is through immigration; with a fertility rate of 1.66 children per woman, the population is below replacement level and overloaded with the elderly. (LifesiteNews, July 13, 2007).

Contrary to media expectations, Tony Blair, former British prime minister, did not announce plans to convert to Catholicism. Rumours to this effect swirled around the time of his resignation at the end of June. An announcement was anticipated on June 23 when Blair visited Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican. Instead, the Life League website reported that the Pope told Blair a few home-truths regarding his policies on abortion, same-sex unions and adoptions, and stem cell research. Senior Catholic commentators in Britain have stated that Blair's recent support of abortions up to 24 weeks' gestation is "totally unacceptable" and he should reform his views on such liberal topics before reception into the Church.

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Blair's wife and four children are all Catholics, and he himself received Communion at Mass until asked to desist by the late Cardinal Hume of Westminster. It would not have been appropriate for Blair to convert while prime minister as part of his function there as the monarch's counsellor is to advise the queen on Church of England matters, such as selection of bishops, in addition to secular ones.

In this context, a motion was brought forward in the U.K. parliament on May 23, 2007, calling for the repeal of the Bill of Rights (1688), the Act of Settlement (1700) and the Union with Scotland Act (1706) which, inter alia, forbid the British monarch to either be a Catholic or to marry one. These laws have been characterized by Cardinal O'Brien as "state-sponsored sectarian discrimination."