we are plodding on

I received a lovely email off a lady this morning, who urged me not to give up on the fight against this bill. I admit that my blog has been silent for quite sometime, but this is not because the battle is over but rather because the battle is delayed.

Now is the time to prepare ourselves with prayer and fasting for soon we will have to fight again.

If you haven't written to your MP yet, now is the time to do it......

Write to me on niamhwhowantstobeholy@gmail.com if you have any questions about how to do this.

Well done John Hemming

Today I went to a public meeting for the consituents of Mr John Hemming MP organised specifically to discuss the HFE bill and I was very impressed by the whole thing.
Everyone was given the oppurtunity to speak and he really made an effort to listen and talk through the issues.
If only all MP's were so open to listen to the views of their constituents and actually chat through the issues thoroughly in a good open forum.
What was funny about the occasions is that all those who attended were against the bill. This was a very positive testimony. Thanks to all of those who have seen and written to their MP, it does make a difference.
Incidentally Mr John Hemming is AGAINST the bill in its totality and indicated that he would not vote for it at second reading nor would be vote for ammendments for hybrids, removal of the father or indeed saviour siblings. He was also against any abortion ammendments, although he thinks we need less abortions, he doesn't think this is the way to do it.

So good to have an MP who has a back-bone, who listens to his constituents, doesn't sit on the fence and is prepared to openly face his consituents in an open forum such as this.

Well done John Hemming!

second reading of HFE bill..... 12th May

As you may have heard by now second reading of the bill in the house of commons has been announced for 12th May. Will you consider having a prayer vigil or going to the prayer vigil outside house of parliament. On the 12th May there will be a prayer vigil outside the houses of parliament (st stephens entrance) We need a miracle!

Half a free vote

Gordon brown has given a half free vote. Mp's can vote freely on the ammendments but they have to still vote for the bill as a whole. Look HERE

What does Bishop Sgreccia have to say?

This lovely Bishop is Bishop Elio Sgreccia who is the president of the Pontifical academy for life. He is a great great man and his ethics is fantastic. He has a great gift for ethics and is definately a big hero of mine.

Here is what he said about the HFE bill.


The decision of British regulators to consider allowing the creation of hybrid embryos for use in medical experiments is "a monstrous act against human dignity," said the president of the Pontifical Academy for Life.

He said that the British embryo authority stipulated in its decision that the hybrid embryo must be destroyed within 14 days "because there is the awareness that the result they will find is a monstrosity."

"The policy that was approved is repugnant from an emotional point of view, but it is also irrational," Bishop Sgreccia added. He explained that Machiavellian ethics are being used to justify pursuing a noble cause -- the cure of diseases -- "with evil means, applied to scientific research."

He added, "We find ourselves facing an overthrow of ethics. Or better still: With this go-ahead, we put ourselves completely outside of the scope of ethics and humanity."

the bishops are speaking..........................

In a strongly worded homily preached yesterday at St Mirin's Cathedral in
paisley, Bishop Philip Tartaglia described the current " Human Fertilisation
and Embryology Bill" as a " state-sponsored attack on unborn human life".

The latest twisted enterprise is legislation soon to be presented by the Government at Westminster which would allow the creation of human-animal embryos. You should know that such procedures are banned in other countries. They have rightly been described by the President of the Pontifical Academy for Life as a “monstrous act against human dignity”, and I am sure that that is the instinctive reaction of our moral reason.

Here is what he said

"It will not surprise you to know that this experimentation is backed by commercial interests who see in it the potential for profit. However it does not have to be this way. The scientific community is increasingly appreciating that the use of adult stem cells is both ethically and practically a better solution than creating human or hybrid embryos. In fact adult stem cells have been successful in treating 73 conditions which weaken human beings. Embryonic stem cells have so far proved clinically useless and are used to treat no conditions, illnesses or pathologies. This suggests strongly that the way to go is not in harvesting embryonic human or hybrid stem cells, but in the clinical use of adult stem cells.

All this is widely known in the scientific and political community. For that
reason, the bishops have called for MPs not to have to tow the party line in
the forthcoming vote on this matter, but to be able to vote according to
their consciences. Democracy is not democracy when it is manipulated by
vested interests. Democracy only works when there is freedom of spirit and
freedom of conscience.

The position of the Church in this matter is not anti-science. Science contributes greatly to making the world and mankind more human. But science can also destroy mankind and the world if it is not directed by a higher wisdom and by well-informed conscientious decisions of men and women of good will and of good faith."

THANK YOU BISHOPS!

Come on Gordie...................

Lets just pray that he gives the free vote..................

The Cardinal has spoken

I am very pleased to see that Cardinal Murphy O'Connor has joined in calling for the free vote. I am so pleased that the Bishops are talking. Thank you Bishops!
The pressure is mounting will Gordy crack?
Here is the link

I LOVE CARDINAL O'BRIEN and struggle to even like Lord Winston

The wonderful faithful Shephard of Scotland that is Cardinal O'Brien has spoken out against the HFE bill in his easter sermon. THANKS BE TO GOD that he is standing up agaisnt this hidious bill. I AM EXSTATIC!

In his sermon he says

“an unprecedented attack on the sanctity and dignity of human life”, warning that the research could lead to the creation of hybrid babies and experiments of “Frankenstein proportions”.

On the other hand, the delightful child of God (I am surely not being sarcastic?!) that is Lord Winston has been speaking against Cardinal O Brien and calling him a Liar.

Here is what he says.

“His [O'Brien's] statements are lying. They are misleading and I'm afraid that when the church for good motives tells untruths it brings discredit upon itself.

[]“I have huge respect for the Catholic church, which does great good, but it will be destroying its probity with overblown statements of this kind.”

Well I tell you what if anyone is a liar, it is Professor Winston.

This bill and this whole hybrid embryo evil is massively a matter of scientists who want to win a Nobel peace Prize.
LETS LOOK AT THE CLEAR FACTS.
EMBRYONIC STEM CELLS VS ADULT STEM CELLS.

7 YEARS OF EMBRYO RESEARCH IN THIS COUNTRY- OVER 2 MILLION EMBRYOS DESTROYED- HOW MANY CURES FOR DISEASES? ZERO

ADULT STEM CELL, NO-ONE KILLED- How many working cures for diseases? OVER 70.


I tell you something If this was about curing people we would be doing adult stem cells. This is not about curing people! Lord Winston may claim to know science but i tell you he needs to work on his ARITHMETIC because it looks to me very clear what we should be doing.

To be quite honest I think Winston has lost the plot. The cheese has slid off his cracker.

WAKE UP WINSTON! AND WHILE YOUR AT IT, LEAVE THE CHURCH ALONE.

The Bio-ethics commission

There is a floating idea of a bio-ethics commission which is in some in the literature about campaigning against the bill. At the moment the Human fertilisation and embryology authority effectively regulate themselves with a panel of people all of whom are pro-cloning and they see that the law is implemented as it is. The idea of the bio-ethics commission is that it would introduce a more even panel perhaps with nominal members of each religion with the idea that this would ensure that the law was implemented safely. My opinion on this and having discussed it with a number of people is that the bio-ethics commission is simply a distraction from the main evil of the bill and we should be writing against the bill rather than to campaign to put something in which won't make the bill any less evil then it already is. We need to pray that it doesn't pass.
Why not the bio-ethics commission?
My feeling is that it could be a force of evil because lets say this commission was set up tomorrow and it had a catholic, a sikh, a evangelical christian, a hindu, a muslim and a pile of pro-cloning scientists well they would still come to the same conclusion that they would have done without the nominal religion representives present but also what if Mrs Bloggs who is a nominal catholic (perhaps a easter and christmas kind of a catholic) sees in the newspaper that this same panel which the Cardinal has called for has been responsible for a decision to allow 5 million embryos to be created to test hair products in a factory in Salford. Well is it remotely possible that Mrs bloggs might read this and think to herself.
"Oh, I agree with that decision because my voice as a Catholic was represented and they all sat round and had a rational discussion and came to a nice rational conclusion"
If this is even remotely possible then the bio-ethics commission could be a source of evil.
Can it do any good?
I don't think so, I think its will either be completely useless or evil. I can't see how it could be any good. People are saying that it will let the Catholic voice be heard and represented but people know what the Catholic voice is saying they are going to totally ignore us.
I don't think this commission is worth petitioning for at all. There are plenty of other issues on the bill to write about. This one is not worth the ink, i don't think

Oxford mail

I found this nice letter written to the Oxford mail about the bill and I thought it was nice to see someone getting active and putting stuff out in their local newspapers maybe we should consider doing this in our prospective communities.

The free vote issue

At the moment there is not a free vote on the HFE bill for members of the labour party. They have been given permission for freedom on abortion ammendments in the bill but all other issues (i.e the removal of the father and issues over the embryo) will be subject to a three line whip (which basically means they have to vote for the bill) On matters of this kind normally MP's have been allowed to vote with their conscience but here they are not. It is something we really need to support in putting pressure on the government to allow the free vote. You can do that by signing the online petition here or by writing a letter to Jeff Hoon who is the chief whip or to Gordon Brown himself. There is quite a lot of pressure on Gordon Brown now to give the free vote, for example Cameron quizzed him in prime ministers questions last week. James wrote about it on his blog, you can see the post here.

question time

If anyone has any questions about any aspect of the bill, please feel free to post them and I should be able to answer them. After co-ordinating a campaign on the bill I am quite clued up on most things and if not then I surely know where to get the answer so feel free to ask.....

:) take care.

Another Article about umbilical cord stem cells

This Link is to a very interesting article about the debate of whether of not embryonic stem cells work. He demonstrates that embryonic stem cells have NEVER BEEN USED TO TREAT ANYONE AND THAT NO PLAN EXIST TO DO SO. This is Part 2 of interview by life site news with Dr. Peter Hollands who is a researcher into cord blood cells and he really shows the truth about the subject. Another great site to find all the relevant information on stem cells is here , this is a pro-life site and they have all the latest news about developments in adult stems cells and cord stem cells and they show why we should be doing this instead.

Article about umbilical cord stem cells

This article will tell you about an exciting new totally ethical treatment which is where we should be investing our time. It makes saviour siblings redundant. You could use information from this article when you write to MP's

Article about adult stems

This article shows why we should be investing our time and money into adult stem cells and not embryonic ones or hybrids.

NEWSPAPER ARTICLES

This link is to a great article from zenit on the latest developments in the abortion debate and is very helpful.

Prayer of John Paul II for Life

O Mary,
bright dawn of the new world,
Mother of the living,
to you do we entrust the cause of life:
Look down, O Mother,
upon the vast numbers
of babies to be born,
of the poor whose lives are made difficult,
of men and women
who are victims of brutal violence,
of the elderly and the sick killed
by indifference or out of misguided mercy.
Grant that all who believe in your Son
may proclaim the Gospel of life
with honesty and love
to the people of our time.
Obtain for them the grace
to accept that Gospel
as a gift ever new,
the joy of celebrating it with gratitude
throughout their lives
and the courage to bear witness to it
resolutely, in order to build,
together with all people of good will,
the civilization of truth and love,
to the praise and glory of God,
the Creator and lover of life.

Amen

Our Lady of Guadeloupe PRAY FOR US

Suggested announcement after mass

Suggested announcement in parish following Sunday mass next week

The Human fertilisation and embryology bill is shortly to enter the house of commons and is of serious concern to us as the Catholic community
We were discussing the HFE bill which will shortly be entering the House of Commons.
The bill threatens human life in four ways.
By allowing the creation of half human/ half animal embryos.
It suggests the removal of the father of the birth certificate and so removes the right a child has to a father.
It allows a child to be created and selected as a organ or tissue donor to another person and in doing so reduces a child to a mere commodity.
It may aim to liberalise abortion laws. This bill needs our action.
Please come and see me at the back of church for information on what you can do to defend human life. You can make a difference. We are having a letter writing campaign on blank blank at blank pm

Suggested insert for the newsletter

HFE BILL ACTION
The HFE bill which will shortly be entering the House of Commons is something of serious concern to us as Catholics.. The bill threatens human life in four serious ways. 1. By allowing the creation of half human/ half animal embryos. 2 It suggests the removal of the father of the birth certificate and so removes the right a child has to a father. 3 It allows a child to be created and selected as a organ or tissue donor to another person and in doing so reduces a child to a mere commodity. 4. It may aim to liberalise abortion laws. This bill needs our action.
Please come and see (name of delegate) for information on what you can do to defend human life. You can make a difference.
Letter writing campaign
As part of the action against the HFE bill, we will be writing to our MP’s. We are invited to a letter writing campaign at blank blank at blank pm

VISITING YOUR MP AT THEIR SURGERY

It would be good to organise a couple from your parish to go and visit your local MP, here are some tips.

Visiting your MP at their constituency surgery

Face to face visits are the most effective way of communicating the strength of feeling
we have about these issues. MPs have a ‘surgery’ in their local constituency once or
twice a week (almost always Fridays and Saturdays) where members of their
constituency can go and raise concerns they have. The following information may help
those who want to visit their MPs.
a) Confirm who your local MP is. A simple way of doing this is to visit
phone the House of Commons switchboard (020 7219 3000) and ask them for the information. It is important to know who your MP is because it is only your local MP who is allowed to represent your view on an issue in Parliament.
b) Find out when your MP’s surgery is held and contact them to arrange a
meeting. Email addresses for MP can be found at:
http://www.theyworkforyou.com/. Find out what day of the week their
surgery is held, and then make an appointment. Alternatively, phone the
Commons switchboard (020 7219 3000).
c) Ask your MP where they stand on these issues and how they have voted on
them in the past (particularly abortion and upper time limit).

As a rough guide, it is likely that Labour MPs will vote for the Bill, especially if they are whipped (not given a free vote). Therefore Labour MPs are a key priority for lobbying. Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs are also a key priority for lobbying as many are in marginal seats. It is also absolutely vital that prolife MPs of any party make sure they turn up to vote. If your MP is sympathetic to our position please encourage them to attend Parliament to vote and to seek to apply pressure within their party leadership and membership.

Speaking to MPs about the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill
1. Pray before you go to the meeting!
2. Take along a print out of the Responses to arguments for the Bill and amendments in this
pack with you.
3. Start the meeting positively and be polite.
4. Explain your concerns about the Bill in your own words, using the information in this pack to help guide you on the issues.

SAMPLE LETTERS

Sample letters

Christian concern for our nation have done a great action pack for the bill which contains some very good sample letters, it can be found here

Sample letter 1
Dear ………………. MP
I am writing to you to express my concern over the forthcoming HFE bill. I am
particularly concerned about
- Any further liberalisation of the abortion laws.
There are already 600 abortions EVERY SINGLE DAY. Please do not vote to allow abortion to become even more common.
My own vote at the next General Election will depend upon how you vote on this vital issue, so please let me know where you stand.
Kind regards

Sample letter 2
Dear …………………MP
I understand that there will shortly be votes in the House of Commons on the HFE bill
– including a proposal to allow scientists to mix animal and human tissue to create
‘hybrid embryos’.
I believe this to be wrong, and I ask you to vote against such proposals.
My own vote at the next general election will depend upon how you vote on these issues, so please let me know where you stand on these vital issues.
Kind regards

Tips on letter writing

The most important thing is to write to MPs, and tell them about your views, and that you want them to vote accordingly.

MPs can be reached in Westminster by post by putting their name (use list provided), and then ‘House of Commons, London, SW1A 0AA’

If possible, write an original letter using just one or two of the points above. Keep your letter brief, but make sure you ask where they stand on the issues, and that your vote at the next general election will depend on their reply.

Use the fact sheet to understand the information and to then put it into your own words.

Letters are most effective when they are written in your own words and express what you are most concerned about. An effective letter will not cover too many points although there are many points of concern about the Bill, you do not have to cover all of them. If lots of people write then all the issues will be covered so don’t worry about that. The most important point is to write in your own words and to write about what concerns you, and to get as many people as possible to write.
Tips on how to write.
Focus just on one or at most two issues that you are most concerned about
• Be polite, concise and to the point
• Limit your letter to one, or at very most two, sides of A4
• Tell them who you are. Include your profession or other personal information to support your opinion, for example if you are a parent and are writing of the issue of need for a father, or if you were adopted or have adopted children, etc.
• When opposing any measure in the Bill make reference to ethical alternatives
• Put your arguments in your own words
• Don’t be afraid to mention your faith but emphasise also the very strong arguments available
Be polite and courteous. We will make no friends or allies by being rude or aggressive

What can we do?

It is now too late to influence events in the House of Lords, but not too late for the Commons. MPs take letters and visits from constituents very seriously and most are profoundly uninformed or misinformed about the contents and effects of this Bill. We have a real opportunity to influence the way MPs will vote on these crucial issues.

In this blog there is a number of resources which will provide you with the information you need to write to our MP’s.

Parish action

We are asking you to start action in your parish by putting the suggested insert in the newsletter next Sunday and by giving the prepared talk with a short summary of the bill after each mass this Sunday. We then ask you to either set up a letter writing session in your parish where you provide advice and support on letter writing and refreshments.

Liberalisation of abortion law.

There is a possibility that the bill will be amended to include the liberalisation of the current abortion law.


The HFE Bill lays the 1967 Abortion Act (last modified in 1990's HFE Act) open to amendments.
As if 6.7 million abortions, with almost one in four pregnancies ending in abortion, aren't enough, there is a concerted move amongst pro-choice MPs, abortion providers and institutions like the RCOG and BMA to push for further liberalisation of the law.
They aim to bring in abortion on demand in the first trimester by ending the requirement for two doctors' signatures, allowing nurse-led medical abortion in GP surgeries with completion at home, barring prolife doctors from seeing women with unplanned pregnancies and extending the Act to Northern Ireland.
We need to urge Parliament to reject all these and to support reasonable restrictive amendments like reducing upper time limits, ending discriminatory abortion of the disabled, and providing balanced evidence-based counselling independently of the abortion service. (This is something you feel you may or may not want to support. Evangelium vitae does support the support of laws which will reduce evil such as ammendments which will reduce abortion)
For info on suicide increasing as a result of abortion see the article at the end of this pack.