[It's a sad day for Ireland, whose citizens have voted to repeal the 8th Amendment, that which ensured protection for the preborn. No longer does she "acknowledge the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantee in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right." Pro-life campaigners have been hampered by an extremely pro-abortion press, vast sums of foreign money funding abortion groups and even politicians apparently deliberately misrepresenting Catholic Church teaching.

Abortion activists are at it again, attempting to introduce bubble-zones around New South Wales abortion facilities. As stated many times on this website, these so-called 'safe-access zones', also known as exclusion zones, are designed to stop advocates for life from offering assistance to desperate women who feel pressured to abort their children. They also hamper the freedom of political communication which should exist in a free society like Australia. Exclusion-zone law, very similar to that being proposed in New South Wales will be under the scrutiny of the High Court of Australia this year due to our legal challenge. Any politician who is realistic about the fiscal and time constraints that apply to our parliamentary system wouldn't dream of introducing legislation that has a constitutional cloud hanging over it.

World-renowned speaker, Jason Evert, was in Melbourne this week for a series of talks on the true nature of love. Jason has spoken to more than one million people about the virtue of chastity and has been a keynote speaker at five World Youth Days. He has written several books, including “Theology of the Body for Teens” and “How to Find Your Soulmate Without Losing Your Soul,” and has studied counselling and theology at the Franciscan University of Steubenville. It was my great pleasure to meet him and ask him a few questions about how a return to chastity can put the brakes on the abortion culture.

Israel Folau is known for being one of the best rugby players in Australia. Folau is also a practising Christian who isn't afraid to give his opinion and express his religious views. He has been under fire recently - to the point of being accused of hate crimes - for publicly stating that homosexuality is a sin. Wayne Smith, of the Australian, complained that Israel Folau should stop 'preaching' if he wants to keep playing football. Former rugby player, George Gregan, agreed and suggested that it is inappropriate for Folau to put his beliefs on a huge platform - despite those beliefs being shared by millions of people, of many diverse religious persuasions.

By now, many of you will be familiar with the massive Save the 8th! campaign, mounted by Ireland's pro-life community. Abortion is currently illegal in Ireland, except under very few circumstances. On May 25th, a referendum will be held in Ireland to determine whether or not to repeal the constitution's 8th Amendment, adopted in 1983: protection of the unborn child. The mainstream media has, on the whole, supported the pro-abortion side, concentrating on the fact that many Irish women travel to England in order to procure abortions. However, this 'need' to travel simply shows that Irish women have been sold the same lie that is being spread around the world: a mistimed pregnancy will ruin women's lives.

It seems that most of the globe has been holding its breath in anticipation of the outcome of baby Alfie's case. Articles and updates have been shared tens of thousands of times, with some social media commenters writing that they couldn't sleep for worry about the little boy. Young mothers, friends of mine, have been crying and praying for Alfie and his family, knowing how they would feel in a similar situation. This morning, we have the news that Alfie will be returning home with his parents; a statement read by his father, praising the Alder Hey hospital, has been likened to a hostage note. As a parent, the most worrying aspect of the Alfie Evans case is that I may one day be in a position where I won't be able to make decisions about my children.

All sources used in this article are either medical or secular, so there can be no accusation of a pro-life bias. Abortion providers and advocates are very eager these days to push Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives (or LARCS) onto their patients. There have been more than a few studies on their use and uptake, with an abundance of advice for practitioners on how to increase their sales. It's been of particular interest to me, to note that abortion providers are very keen to fit women with LARCS right after an abortion.

Abortionist Leah Torres is no stranger to controversy. She has a huge following on twitter and actively advocates for abortion, while educating - according to her personal brand of science - on the dangers of pregnancy. Last week, she drew heavy criticism from within and without the pro-life community for her comments about her abortion technique: "You know babies can't scream, right? I transect the cord first so there's really no opportunity. If they're even far enough along to have a larynx." Although like many others, I concluded that Torres was referring to the vocal cords, she says she was actually referring to the umbilical cord. [See Dave Pellowe's article and interview with Leah Torres here.] And, while umbilical cord transection is a technique that is sometimes used for second-trimester abortions, it has mixed outcomes for mothers. In any case, it seems irrelevant which cord is being cut: umbilical, vocal or spinal; for the abortionist, they all lead to the result they're after: a dead baby.  

Three Canberra men were recently acquitted of the charge of violating an abortuary exclusion-zone. Kerry Mellor, John Popplewell, and Ken Clancy, have witnessed outside the Marie Stopes facility for many years. After a protest-free exclusion-zone was introduced in 2016, they continued to engage in quiet, personal prayer, which they believed did not constitute a protest. The prosecution had argued that praying constituted 'a protest, by any means', although a security guard who was called as a witness conceded that the men's prayer was silent.

Buzzfeed's Gina Rushton recently published an article which attempted to discredit the work of pro-lifers in Perth. [Click here to read the article]. As well as providing the entertainment value that pro-aborts derive from mocking the pro-life community, the article added fuel to the fire of those pushing for exclusion-zones. As covered in other articles on this site, eg this one, there is a global movement by abortion providers to try to shut down prayerful witness outside abortion facilities. Without exception, this movement relies on a false premise for its momentum: the lie that pro-lifers 'harass' and 'intimidate' women. An integral part of this lie is the idea that pro-lifers tell nothing but falsehoods, while abortion providers tell nothing but the truth. And the media plays a very large part in promulgating these lies.