Ireland has been saved - at least for now - from the special horror of abortion up until birth. A proposal to revisit radical plans for the decriminalisation of abortion up to birth has been narrowly rejected by Deputies.

TDs voted by 73 to 71 against restoring the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) (Amendment) Bill 2023 for further debate in the Dáil.

The controversial Private Member’s Bill, which lapsed after the dissolution of the Dáil last year, called for full decriminalisation of abortion up to birth for any reason and the dismantling of the three-day reflection period before having an abortion.

Eilís Mulroy of the Pro Life Campaign welcomed the outcome and expressed encouragement at the many TDs “taking stock of the dramatic increase in abortions since the law changed and of the disturbing realities now emerging under the current legislation”.

She added: “As a society, we should be prioritising alternatives to abortion and meaningful support for women, not policies that drive abortion numbers higher.”

One in six babies in Ireland were killed by abortion in 2024, according to the Department of Health.

Isabel Vaughan-Spruce has twice been arrested for silently praying outside an abortion clinic in Birmingham, and she's twice been freed and vindicated. Indeed, West Midlands Police subsequently apologised and gave her a £13,000 payout. But, thanks to the new buffer zone law, West Midlands Police have decided to charge her for a third time.

Abortion buffer zones came into force in October 2024 outside abortion clinics in England and Wales, criminalising offering vital support to women, and amid confusion about precisely what activities are prohibited outside abortion clinics.

While Vaughan-Spruce has been arrested on previous occasions, she has never been charged with a crime. Individuals are arrested if they are suspected of committing a crime, allowing police to question them and gather evidence. After being arrested, individuals can be either released or charged with committing a crime. Despite Vaughan-Spruce not having been charged on previous occasions, following several months of consideration by prosecutors, she has now been charged. 

Speaking when first arrested, Isabel explained her position: “Despite being fully vindicated multiple times after being wrongfully arrested for my thoughts, it’s unbelievable that two and a half years later, I am still being harassed by police for silently praying in that area, and yet again find myself under investigation for the same prayers I have said for twenty years”.

“Silent prayer cannot possibly be a crime – everyone has the right to freedom of thought”.

Vaughan-Spruce is due to appear at Birmingham magistrates’ court on 29 January and, if she is found guilty, could face an unlimited fine.

"Pregnancy should not be a bar” to assisted suicide, according to the Labour peer pushing state-sanctioned murder through the House of Lords

Lord Charles Leslie Falconer, Baron Falconer of Thoroton, made this shocking statement as the Assisted Dying bill was debated in the Upper Chamber. Falconer served as Secretary of State for Justice under Prime Minister Tony Blair and is both a longtime advocate of assisted suicide and the bill’s sponsor in the Lords.

“There is a big issue here,” Lord Craig Mackinlay, Baron Mackinlay of Richborough, told the peers. “In other states around the world who have had assisted dying for some time have differences of view. In Oregon, since 1997, there is a requirement to keep the mother alive as long as possible, particularly when there is a viable fetus.”

“The Netherlands takes a completely different view, and that is one of feticide, where the fetus has to be terminated by one means or another,” he continued. “Often by intracardiac injection of potassium chloride before the mother can be euthanized.”

“On which end of the scale does [the noble lord] refer these things, because we are in a situation where the Royal Colleges are against his whole system, and we will be relying on them to fill in the gaps of this legislation,” Lord Mackinlay concluded. “I think it is incumbent on us to fill in those gaps for them, because they’re not keen on this.”

“The noble lord puts it accurately,” Lord Falconer responded. “Some countries have taken one view, and other countries have taken another. It’s clear from the choice that I am supporting that we take the view that pregnancy should not be a bar to it.”

Lord Falconer’s single, clinical statement is the reductio ad absurdum—or perhaps the inevitable conclusion—of the Culture of Death: a pregnant woman being euthanised, with her baby being killed either just prior to her own demise by lethal injection or perishing with her. The conscience of Lord Falconer is so hardened that the spectre of this double killing does not cause him to bat an eye. After all, Westminster just decriminalised abortion until birth—why should the life of a viable baby be a barrier to a mother’s suicide?

It's a dark day. In the week before Christmas, the UK Supreme Court has ruled that Christian education in Northern Ireland is unlawful, citing its “proselytising” nature and its lack of a “pluralistic” approach.

The case, brought before the court by an unnamed father and daughter, challenged a public school’s religious education and prayer practices, arguing that they amounted to “indoctrination” and could stigmatise students who chose not to participate.

“The word ‘indoctrination’ ordinarily has negative connotations but in the context of the Christian faith it is a synonym for evangelism or proselytising,” stated the Court.

“It means winning others over so that they believe in and practice the Christian faith…To teach pupils to accept a set of beliefs without critical analysis amounts to evangelism, proselytising, and indoctrination.”

The court ruled in favour of the father and daughter, who, according to court documents, do not oppose the teaching of religion in schools so long as it “does not amount to indoctrination.”

“The State is forbidden to pursue an aim of indoctrination that might be considered as not respecting parents’ religious and philosophical convictions.”

In response, Bishop Alan McGuckian, SJ, of the Down and Connor Diocese, questioned if Catholic schools could be next in the suppression of “indoctrination.”

“Many people have asked me; while it is explicitly noted in the judgement that this ruling applies to a controlled grant-aided primary school and does not apply to Catholic schools, what difference is this Supreme Court ruling going to make to the provision of Religious Education across [Northern Ireland] schools more widely?” asked McGuckian.

“Is religion being driven out of schools? More specifically, some are asking ‘Is Christianity being driven out of schools?’”

The left's Long War on Christianity and the Unborn grinds on in Northern Ireland. A retired Christian pastor faces trial in Coleraine Magistrate’s Court this week accused of breaching the province's controversial abortion buffer zone laws by preaching on John 3:16.

Clive Johnston, former President of the Association of Baptist Churches in Ireland, faces two charges under the Abortion Services (Safe Access Zones) Act for holding an open-air service on the fringes of a buffer zone opposite Coleraine’s Causeway Hospital last year.

Mr Johnston is expected to be a witness at the 17 December proceedings. If convicted, the grandfather of seven – who has never been in trouble with the police – faces a criminal record and potential fines totalling thousands of pounds.

In March, Mr Johnston, who is being supported by The Christian Institute, pleaded not guilty to charges of seeking to ‘influence’ people accessing the hospital’s abortion services and for not immediately leaving the area when asked to do so by police.

He was preaching from John 3:16, one of the most famous ‘good news’ verses in the Bible. The issue of abortion was never mentioned.

"A crucial win for the Unborn" = that's what pro-lifers are calling the result of a long-running legal battle in Texas. State Attorney General Ken Paxton (pictured) has declared victory in his years-long fight against a Biden-era guidance that sought to limit hospitals’ sharing of information pertaining to abortions or “gender transitions” from investigators trying to enforce state laws.

In its final year, the Biden administration issued a rule change to the Standards for Privacy of Individually Identifiable Health Information under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) and Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act of 2009, to greatly limit the sharing of information pertaining to so-called “reproductive health care.” The move was made in response to a wave of pro-life laws enabled by the U.S. Supreme Court overturning Roe v. Wade, which former President Joe Biden had been intent on countering with a “whole-of-government” campaign to preserve so-called “reproductive access.”

Paxton’s office sued, arguing the rule was meant to “obstruct States’ ability to enforce their own laws on abortion and other laws that HHS deems to fall under the rubric of ‘reproductive health care.’” He said it “actively undermines Congress’s clear statutory meaning when HIPAA was passed, and it reflects the Biden Administration’s disrespect for the law. The federal government is attempting to undermine Texas’s law enforcement capabilities, and I will not allow this to happen.”

Since then, the Biden administration has been replaced with the Trump administration, which takes a different view on abortion and gender, and, on December 9, Paxton announced that his office and the Trump Justice Department have filed a joint motion agreeing to close the case, with the Biden rule “permanently vacated.”

“The Corrupt Biden Administration failed in its radical attempt to obstruct our ability to protect women, children, and those who can’t yet speak for themselves,” Paxton said. “This dismissal confirms that federal agencies cannot take away the power of a state to uphold their laws. This is a crucial win for Texas, the unborn, and the rule of law.” 

The Scottish Deputy First Minister has warned that Scotland could become a hub for “death tourists” from across the United Kingdom if assisted suicide becomes legal there.

The Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill would legalise assisted suicide for adults resident in Scotland with no prognosis requirement specified, while the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill would legalise assisted suicide in England and Wales for those with a prognosis of six months or less. 

In November, MSPs rejected an amendment to the Scottish assisted suicide Bill that would have instated a six-month terminal prognosis requirement, which the proposed Bill in England and Wales currently has.

The Deputy First Minister of Scotland, Kate Forbes, warned that individuals from across the UK could travel to Scotland to end their lives by assisted suicide due to the looser restrictions on the eligibility criteria proposed law there. 

“It is a risk”, Forbes said. “That wider point around looser definitions is a matter of concern for residents in Scotland, as well as those who might want to relocate to Scotland”. 

Forbes made her comments as part of a cross-party statement from MSPs who are concerned about the potential ramifications of legalising assisted suicide in Scotland. 

Among other MSPs who made comments during the statement was Conservative MSP Edward Mountain, who recently disclosed that he is suffering from bowel cancer. Mountain said there was a “real risk” that individuals would travel to Scotland from around the UK to avail of the looser assisted suicide restrictions. 

“There is always the chance that people will see Scotland, if this bill passed, which I hasten to say I hope it doesn’t, is an easier place to end your life than down south”, he added. 

Frontbench Labour MSP Michael Marra also criticised the assisted suicide Bill for these reasons, saying the issues that would likely arise as a result of incentivised cross-border travel had been “hugely underexplored” during the debates in Holyrood and Westminster. 

“It’s a very complex issue, about how the two systems might interact”, he continued. 

Concerns around this kind of “death tourism” were initially raised by Dr Claudia Carr, a medical ethics expert at the University of Hertfordshire’s law school. 

She highlighted that people in England and Wales who are suffering from a terminal illness would likely realise that Scotland would have “a more positive climate for an assisted death and move accordingly”. 

Sick abortion activists have published a children’s book to promote abortion to five to eight-year olds.

The picture book titled ‘Abortion is Everything’ is illustrated with bright, colourful drawings, and is advertised as ‘framing’ abortion “as the actualization of a uniquely human superpower”.

The book is written by Rachel Kessler alongside activist Amelia Bonow, whose group ‘Shout Your Abortion’ (SYA) aims to “arm existing activists, create new ones, and foster collective participation in abortion access all over the country”.

The book is marketed as speaking “directly to five to eight-year-olds about what abortion is, how it might feel, and why people have abortions”.

Posting about the book’s release, SYA claim: “Parents, caregivers, and educators who work with children have long been searching for a tool to talk with kids about abortion”.

They say the book promotes abortion as “a tool that allows human beings to shape our destinies” and to “make choices that lead us towards the life we envision”.

Instead of using the word ‘woman’ or ‘mother’, it talks about “human beings” who have “an organ called a uterus”, and in its illustrations, it compares having an abortion to letting go of a balloon.

One mother commented on the SYA post promoting the book: “Love it. I‘ve been speaking to my kids about abortion since they were small and it is so empowering to hear a child say: ‘You don‘t have to be pregnant if you don’t want to be.’”

The book received substantial backlash on social media, with one commenter saying: “Why would you even want to talk to kids about this????”

Another criticised it for “trying to sanitize abortion”, stating: “But abortion isn’t everything. It ends everything — a heartbeat, a future, a God-ordained life. This is one of the clearest pictures of a culture of death I’ve seen. Parents must speak truth early so children know life is sacred from the moment of conception.”