What happened?
Ireland could be an abortion-friendly country as early as next summer, after Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that he wanted the country’s Eighth Amendment referendum to happen in May. The amendment protects the life of the unborn child.
Meanwhile, a parliamentary committee has voted in favour of repeal. The committee proposed allowing all abortions up to 12 weeks and later if a mother’s health is deemed to be at risk or if the unborn child has fatal disabilities.
What the campaign teams said
Colm O’ Gorman of Amnesty International Ireland, which is in the vanguard of the pro-abortion campaign, welcomed Varadkar’s announcement and the committee vote. The vote, he said, along with “recent opinion polls”, had “highlighted the wide-ranging support that exists to reform Ireland’s abortion laws.”
Cora Sherlock, of the Pro-Life Campaign, said that the 12-week limit was “plucked from thin air. It reveals a frightening disregard for the right to life of the most innocent and defenceless members of society, namely unborn babies.”
Sherlock added that “thankfully”, the parliamentarians “won’t have the final say on the Eighth Amendment. The electorate will have that responsibility and I am confident they will vote to keep it.”
What the commentators said
Kevin O’ Reilly wrote in the Irish Times that Ireland’s political process was being manipulated. Of the “experts” called before the committee, “something like 25 are on record as being in support of abortion”, while only four were neutral or opposed. “An instrument of democracy is being used in a manner that is anything but democratic in order to remove the constitutional protection for the most defenceless members of Irish society.”
At opendemocracy.net, Patrick Chalmers argued it was pointless to keep the Eighth Amendment, saying the law had merely “exported” abortion, with 170,000 women and girls having abortions abroad between 1980 and 2016. But David Quinn, director of the Iona Institute, said the committee’s proposals would “make our law even more radical than the UK one”.
What happened?
Bermuda has become the world’s first territory to restore the traditional definition of marriage, overturning a Supreme Court judgment passed earlier this year.MPs passed the Domestic Partnership Act, which states that marriage is only between a man and a woman. It also creates legal rights for same-sex couples.
Why was it under-reported?
With a population of around 65,000 and an official status as a British Overseas Territory, Bermuda is hardly a priority for most news editors. The story also fits awkwardly with the idea that any sane person would support same-sex marriage. Bermuda had had six months to get used to same-sex marriage, after a couple won the right to marry through the legal system. But Crystal Caesar, a senator from the ruling Progressive Labor party, said: “Society largely does not support same-sex marriage nor is it prepared to accept it at this time.”
What will happen next?
LGBT activist groups will try to dissuade Bermuda: a US organisation, the Human Rights Campaign, is urging Bermuda’s governor not to sign the legislation. But that seems highly unlikely – and from a global perspective, Bermuda is not so exceptional. Romania, for instance, has seen a hugely successful campaign to affirm marriage as the union of a man and a woman. Even in Europe, two thirds of countries have not accepted gay marriage. But ever more courts and parliaments around the world are facing the issue.
This year Christmas Eve falls on a Sunday. That means many Catholics will go to Mass twice in one day: once to fulfil the Sunday obligation, and again, for a vigil Mass, to fulfil the obligation the following day (that is, if they want to keep Christmas Day free for other activities). The bishops’ liturgy office has clarified that both obligations cannot be fulfilled with one Sunday Mass.
At Christmas many bishops celebrate Masses in prisons. This year Auxiliary Bishop John Wilson of Westminster (pictured) will celebrate Masses at Bronzefield, a maximum security women’s prison in Surrey, and Wormwood Scrubs, west London.
The World Day of Peace, an event established by Pope Paul VI, is celebrated on January 1. This year’s theme is “Migrants and refugees: men and women in search of peace.” In his message Pope Francis criticised those who “foment fear of migrants instead of building peace”. He said they were “sowing violence, racial discrimination and xenophobia”.
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