'l

Biftirr 9 ir I
thenewsletter
of theProLifeCanpaitjn
I -1
-J
SPBING 2OO4
/ SUMMER

TheProLife Campaignis
a non-denominationallobby
group,drawingits support
froma widecross-section
lVledical Gouncil
of lrish society. Agrees New
TheCampaign promotes
Guidelines
f'"-life educationand
ddfendshumanlife at all
TheMedical recently
Council jtslatest
approved edition
stagesfromconception
to naturaldeath. ofA Guideto Ethical whichregulates
Conduct, theconduct
GeradineN4artif
address pro
n0a recenl andpractice profession
ofthemedical forthetermofthe
lfemeetngn Buswell's
HotelDubn.
It alsocampaignsfor newcouncilThePro-LfeCampaign
welcomedtheretention
resourcesto supportand guidelines
ofexisting prohibiting
thedeliberate
destructionofhumanembryos
duringtheassisted
assr'sfpregnantwomen human process.
reproduction ThePLC, however,hasraised
serious
concerns
attheCouncils
and thosein needof to permit
decision thevoluntary of"surplus"
donation to other
embryos asthismove
couples,
healingafterabortion. impiicitly thelegitimacy
assumes freezing,
ofembryo isincompatible
which withhuman
dignity
andlnevitably
leads
tothestorage andmore
ofmore embryos
surplus

Incontrast, passed
ltalyrecently providing
legislation proper intheareaofassisted
safeguards
humanreproduction,
Thenewlawallowsfertllity to produce
doctors onlythreehumanembryos
perattempt
al in vitro produced
thatallembryos
andstipulates mustbeimplanted
inthemother,
giving
themalla chance oflifeThelawalsoprohibits
thefreezlng
ofembryos
after
existing
stored
embryos
inltaly parents
bytheir
areused orgiven Archbishop
foradoption ElioSgreccia
VicePresident
ofthePontifical
Academy forLife,saidthatwhile
thenewltalian
lawisimperfect,
nonetheless, it couldbepraised
heconceded onpractices
foritsrestriclions leading
tothe
destruction
of human
life

Thedecision
of theMedical in lreland
Council givethegreenlightto embryo
to effectively freezing
isdifficult
to understand
inthecontext
of therespect
forhuman lifethatisthehallmark
of theother
guidelinesandallprevious
guidelines
lt isalsounfortunate
thattheCouncil tookitsdecision
ata
jurisdictions
timewhenother thenegat've
areassessing ofsuchpractices
effects thathe'etofore
didnottakeaccount ofthechildren
oftherights invo
ved

When
theCommission
onAssisted
Human (CAHR)
Reproduction issues
itslongawaited
repofi
:l inthenearfuture,
5,i1"s:ii l ir; there
protecting
legislation
willbeanonerous responsibility
ontheGovernment
to bring
fonrvard
! Ir"ri:
C?,?e.? human lifefromitsearliest
stages
ofdevelopment
inkeepingwith
lreland's
constitutional
orotections
My Foetus - An lmportant Milestone?
Despite prochoice
itsobvious therecent
slant, presented
filmMyFoetus,
Channel4 a rather
rnterestrr.r
andrevealing
nanative,
Thedocumentary round
centred filmmaker Julia
Black
andhowshebegar
questioning
herviews
onaborlion
after pregnant
becoming forthesecondtimeAt21,justafter
lea'ri_lr
collegesheendedherf rstpregnancy
n abofton Duringhersecondpregnancy
however,
shefound it impossible
to denythehumanity
of herunborn questions
babyforcingherto askfundamental abouttheearlier
abortionHer
personaljourney
andstruggleincoming
toterms withiheabortion were
culture welldocumentedinthefilmand
given
allthemoreinteresting thatBlack
isthedaughter ofMarle
ofDrTimBlackfounder International
Stopes
oneoftheworlds largest providers
abortion DrBlack
alsofounded
theoriginal
Dublin
WellWomanCentre

Bothsidesintheaboftion
debatehavereason
totakeissue ofthefilmYetit'snotentirely
withaspects surprising
thatthebrunt
ofcri|cism
sofa appearstobecomingfromthepro-choice
side

Inthedocumentary,
Blackusedspectacular
ultrasound
images
taken pregnancy
hersecond
during andadmitted
thatthese
scans
ofherunborn hada moreprofound
child toquestion
onherdecision
impact aborlion
than
thehanowing
images
ofaborted
foetuses
alsoused
inthefilm

Froma pro'iife
perspective,
MyFaetus farfromperfect
wasceftainly lt was,however, gripping
anextremely
andpotentially production
significant inthemanner ihepro-abortion
it challenged position, forthefirst
arguably
timeonBritish
televsion
lf nothing
elseit highlighted
theadvances
ln3D/4D technology,
ultrasound andrevealed
images
howthese aremaking rhetoric
Lhe o' cnoice increasingly
aopear ardiradequare
vacuous

ffiw:@*wffiffi&
ffiww@-fu €s*w
Wry@w
&re zsryr%ry%&fuaTffifu
&furyqew zr@-fu
of pregnancy
A study related published
deaths recently
inlheAnerican
Journalof
)bstetrics
and
(AJOG),
Gynaecology found
themortality
rateassociated
withabortionis2 95times
higherthanthat
withpregnancies
associated caniedtotermThestudyfocussedontheentirepopulation
ofFrnnish
'1987
t,tlomen
aged15 49 between and2000bylinking birthandabortionrecords
to deathcertificates
Finland
isuniqueinhaving
comprehensive
health
records
onallitscitizens.
Second Look Project
r Unveiling a New Vision ry
"+.*.*

e+i
-".. *
ff-
*

TheSecond LookProject
s anexciting
newventure
invi|ng people
lrish totakea
freshookathowweapproach pregnancy
unexpected andotherlifereatedissues

charityrtsprimary
Asa registered pubic awareness
aimisto strengthen dgni[t
of theintrinsic
andvaueofeach
humanlifeThiscalsforlongerterm
wider
reaching initiatives
educational frompolitica
separate
Theoutreach
andegalcampaigns envisagedbytheSecond ranges
LookProject fromcinema adveftisements
andbiboard foryoung
to initiatives
campaigns people
atpostprimary inthirdlevecolleges
evelandstudents

LookProlect
Tfe Second iscurrently
holding presentations
around thecountry, withsuppoders
toshare some
oftheideas theproject,
behind whatit s trying
todoandhowit lshopedtosetabout tsgoals
achieving

For moreinformationaboutSecondLookProjectintroductory
presentationsscheduledto takeplacein your areacall:01-8727923

The Right to Choose Gensorship!

Asrecenty reporled
n Bidhright isa newgroup
SientNoN/ore n theUnited
organsed States
to hghlghtwomen's
negatrve
experiences
ofabortion
Inrecent
months
they'vehosted
a number
nationwide
ofsuccessfui symposla
bringlng
together
hundreds
ofwomen, whoupuntinow
raderdrred prysrapairolaborlion
lheenolio^alar0 insecrectl
aloresl-ro.rdeo ardsilerce

Asthesuccess
ofSientNoNlore togainmomentum
contlnues ihattheproaboftion
theres evldence
movement
isbecoming andmore
more concerned
Ata recent
feminlst DC, femtn
ralyn Washington st
groups inpreventng
succeeded SlentNoMore
frombeinggranted permitto
anoffical participate
Commenting
onthelengthssomeabortion
advocates arepreparedtogotosuppress
thetruthabout Silent
abofion, NoNlore
President
Georgette
Foreysad: "lt's ironic that theyare marchingto protectwomen'sright to choose
and at the sametime working to denyus our right to talk about the pain abortioncausedus.
Weare the facesof the choicetheypromote."
 HonoraryPresident
LlesHanalf
Chairperson
llr JoeNilcca(o
DeputyChailpecon
P)blishedIty lne Fia Lile Cartpi\ltt. Nlale Verror
J,l Gaulner Slreet Uppet.Dubltn 1
LegalAdvisel
Tcl Ai 8/4809A Fil: A1 3748091
Prolersu
\lllam Brci]i
Enati ptalife@iatlga te
Websile w,N.pralifecanpa]8nie MedicalAdviser
DrBer!Ke!
LegalConsultant
Carofe Snrons
Secretary
Johf0 Beli
Educationotficers
iva.tnSRN& DIButhCrllcf
Geradinc

Assisting the Pro Life GamPaign

allthesupport
needs
TheProLifeCampaign tothewider
it cangetto bringitsmessage community

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ExpiryDate:I I Signature