Northern Ireland Abortion Amendment Bill
A recent attempt to amend the abortion law in Northern Ireland has met with disappointment. Under the current legislation, imposed by Westminster on the Stormont Assembly, abortion is permitted up to 24 weeks for most reasons but, shockingly, is available even at full term for children deemed to have a severely life-limiting condition, the definition of which includes Down’s syndrome, cleft lip and clubfoot.
“The Severe Foetal Impairment Abortion (Amendment) Bill”, which was introduced by a private member and supported by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) passed the Committee Stage at Stormont and was debated at its Consideration Stage. It was rejected after the Assembly members (MLAs) voted by 45 to 42 against the principles of the Bill. It will now be referred back to the Speaker, and it is understood that the DUP is seeking legal advice around the protection of rights for people with disabilities. The Bill had received a landslide of support from the public, with 99% of the 9125 submissions to the consultation on the Bill being in favour of the proposed legislation.
Those who support the Amendment Bill are appalled at the message the current legislation sends to the world. One of these supporters expresses the message thus: “A child that has a non-life-threatening disability should be regarded as worthless and may be destroyed, if the mother chooses that course of action”. The Christian Institute reported that Professor John Wyatt, of University College, London, said, “As a doctor who has cared for many new-born babies and older children with disabilities, I strongly support this Bill. It is absolutely right that the law recognises that an unborn baby with a non-fatal disability deserves the same protection as an unborn baby without a disability”.
One of the opponents of the amendment, Deputy First Minister, Michelle O’Neill, speaking during the debate, described the Bill as part of a shameful strategy to block abortion services. She went on to say that its proponents “continued to hold up and deny this essential health care service to women and girls who need it”. As usual in debates involving abortion, the right of the woman to choose takes precedence over the right of the unborn child to life.
Our “caring” society may close its eyes to the reality and wickedness of aborting, on demand, a child at any stage of its development, but there is One who sees. The Most High God is Judge of all things and will call us all to give an account for what we have done in this life. “Thou shalt not kill.”
FRD
Holy Trinity Brompton
Holy Trinity Brompton (HTB), with a congregation numbering over 4000 and said to be the largest in the Church of England, has recently announced the appointment of its next minister. HTB is the home of the well-known “evangelistic” Alpha Course which has spread over the whole world. The Alpha Course has been characterised as fundamentalist, mechanistic, ecumenical, charismatic, weak on the doctrines of sin and the atonement, and giving a disproportionate place to the Holy Spirit as against Christ.
The minister-elect for HTB currently pastors in Brighton, and in 2016 he expressed support for the Brighton “Gay Pride” march. It does not seem that he is a zealous proponent of homosexuality, but simply wishes to appear “neutral” for evangelistic purposes. His appointment to this large congregation will further undermine and compromise the already feeble Christian testimony against the evil of homosexuality in Britain. “Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure” (2 Tim 2:19). The Bible condemns all homosexuality, and however men may rage and march against this, or ignore it or try to explain it away, they cannot alter it. DWBS
Refusal of Jury to Convict
A jury in Bristol has refused to convict of criminal damage four people who pulled down a statue of Edward Colston (1638-1721) and threw it into the harbour. There was no question that they had done so but the jury refused to convict them of a crime. Colston was a High Anglican who was heavily involved in the Royal African Company, and hence in the slave-trade. He was also a very considerable benefactor to Bristol, as a visit to his Wikipedia page will show, endowing schools, hospitals and almshouses. The people of Bristol are benefitting from Colston’s money to this day. The statue was set up in 1895, presumably to commemorate Colston’s benefactions, rather than as an endorsement of his involvement in the slave-trade; and there were legal means available, and steps in hand, for its removal. The refusal of the jury to convict of an obvious crime shows the extent to which the public sense of right and wrong has been perverted in Britain. Jurors in England promise that they “will faithfully try the defendant and give a true verdict according to the evidence”, and every juror will have to account for his decision on the Day of Judgement. DWBS