In response to a new Pro-Abortion administration and renewed funding of abortion with US tax dollars since January 2021, 46 states have introduced 536 pro-life bills and 61 have become law. These are being challenged by the pro-abortion faction, and the Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case involving a Mississippi law that I reported on in a previous post.
In London, Parliament is considering a proposal to legalize assisted suicide. A Catholic Bishop urges lawmakers to value the sanctity of life and emphasize caring over killing.
An Italian Bishop at the March for Life in Rome proclaimed that we must not be afraid to confront a culture of rampant death.
Thousands of people gathered in the Croatian capitol of Zagreb on June 2, 2021, for their annual March for Life. An event coordinator proclaimed that the right to life is a fundamental human right. Abortion is legal in Croatia until the 10th week. Such marches are spreading throughout Europe. In the US Supreme Court ruling in Roe v. Wade in 1973, the court decided that human babies in the womb were not persons with a right to life under the US constitution.
A new pro-life campaign in Poland known as “Every Life is a Miracle” tells the stories of children born with disabilities after doctors advised their mothers to consider having an abortion. The founder has stated that people cannot be killed before birth because of a suspected disease or disability. The stories relate how much joy these children have brought to their families. This follows a ruling by the Constitutional Tribunal in Warsaw October 22, 2020, that abortion for fetal abnormalities was unconstitutional. The ruling was followed by protests, and the pro-life campaign was founded to reinforce the decision of the Tribunal.
Also in Poland, the “Yes to Life Foundation” has forged a bronze bell 4 feet in diameter and weighing 2000 pounds decorated with a DNA double helix and an ultrasound image of an unborn child. It is called the “Voice of the Unborn” bell and will tour churches in Poland to memorialize the 42 million babies aborted annually in the world. The foundation says they have received inquiries from Ecuador and Ukraine about the possibility of forging a similar bell for organizations in those countries.
In Spain, the Assembly of Associations for Life, Freedom and Dignity, consisting of 140 organizations, has announced plans for massive demonstrations throughout the country against the agenda of the current “far-left” coalition government. In March 2021, the country passed a euthanasia law. The Assembly seeks to replace it with a palliative care law. The group will also seek to block a proposed law that would criminalize demonstrating and sidewalk counseling near abortion clinics by pro-life groups.
On July 3, 2021, at least 39 local pro-life rallies will be held in the Republic of Ireland and in Northern Ireland. On July 4, a Virtual Rally for Life will be held with several prominent activists planning to speak. On January 1, 2019, a law went into effect in the Republic of Ireland which repealed the Eighth Constitutional Amendment that guaranteed the right to life of the unborn. Since then, there have been about 6,600 abortions. Those who promoted the change in the law had argued that abortions would be rare and almost only in cases where there was detection of a life-limiting condition in the unborn baby. However, organizers cite a lawsuit arising from the case of a misdiagnosis which led to abortion of a healthy baby, leaving the parents bereft and devastated. They question how many other babies have been aborted due to such a mistake. And, women seeking abortion for any reason have been far greater in number than was anticipated.