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** In This Week’s Issue:
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* Backlash over Paul Murphy’s abortion vote in the Dáil ⚖️
* UK files first-ever criminal charge for silent prayer near an abortion clinic 🚫🙏
* Professor arrested for murder after woman refused an abortion ⛓️
* As births decline in Ireland, silence on the impact of abortion 😔
* UK to protect lobsters from pain 🦞 but not unborn babies in abortions



** Latest News
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Paul Murphy TD

The fallout from Paul Murphy’s misjudged abortion vote in Dáil

Watching People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Paul Murphy back-pedal following the defeat of his abortion motion in the Dáil just before Christmas has been a fascinating spectacle.

Now that the reality of his abortion bill is widely understood - that it would allow abortion on request right up to the moment of birth - Deputy Murphy has been obscuring the bill’s intent with claims of “misinformation” and carefully chosen healthcare rhetoric.

If Deputy Murphy believes unborn babies are entitled to any legal protection, now is the time for him to say so - and to state clearly where he draws that line. In more than a decade in the Dáil, he has never identified circumstances in which he believes unborn babies should be protected.

Anyone who has read his latest bill can see it explicitly calls for the decriminalisation of abortion, removing any remaining legal protection for the unborn child. Thankfully, a majority of TDs were not fooled and voted to stop it progressing by 73 to 71 votes, just before the Christmas break.
Read more ([link removed])

As births decline in Ireland, silence on the impact of abortion

This week, the National Economic and Social Council (NESC) has said that Ireland’s birthrate is falling fast.


In 2010, 77,000 babies were born in Ireland. In 2024, the number fell to just 54,000 births. Yet in all the media reports in recent days about the lower numbers of babies being born, there wasn't one mention of Ireland's massive abortion rate.


For years, the Pro Life Campaign has been calling for better supports for pregnant women and new families - financial help, housing and other supports - so that women don't feel compelled or pressured to have abortions for economic reasons.


Some progress was made in 2025 in convincing politicians that urgent action is needed. For those members of the Oireachtas still refusing to acknowledge reality, it’s time for them to join the dots.

Isabel Vaughan-Spruce

Oppressive Move: UK brings first-ever criminal charge for silent prayer near abortion clinic

In the days leading up to Christmas, West Midlands Police and the UK’s Crown Prosecution Service pressed criminal charges against Isabel Vaughan-Spruce for silently praying outside an abortion clinic.

This latest development is the first charge under the new “buffer zones” law in the UK, which took effect in late 2024. Since January, the pro-life volunteer had been under investigation for engaging in silent prayer on a public street close to an abortion clinic in Birmingham.

Ms Vaughan-Spruce, who was the keynote speaker at the Pro Life Campaign’s National Conference last October in Dublin, was previously cleared in court and received a police payout for having been unjustly arrested twice over her silent prayers.
Read more ([link removed])

Matthew Sierra

College professor arrested for murder of woman who refused abortion

Police in La Crosse, Wisconsin have arrested and charged college professor Matthew Sierra for the alleged murder of 27-year-old Alexis Pickett and her unborn child.

The charges stem from an investigation into a residential fire in which 27-year-old Pickett and her unborn child were found dead. Sierra, who is 38, now faces charges including first- degree intentional homicide. He - who taught mechanical design at Western Technical College - has been placed on administrative leave. Authorities allege that although Sierra and Pickett already had one child together, he opposed the prospect of another. It is further claimed that Sierra pressured Pickett to have an abortion after she became pregnant again, but she refused. It’s also reported that a witness told police Sierra “freaked out” and

threatened Pickett if she refused to get an abortion.

We don’t need to point out to regular readers of Vital Signs that stories like this are becoming all too common - in Ireland as well as across the US and Europe. Yet there’s still no national or international taskforce in place to examine what is happening, to assess the true scale of the problem, or to recommend the corrective action needed to end this scourge and appalling violation of women and their babies.


UK to protect lobsters from pain, but not unborn babies in abortions


In late December, the UK government announced plans to ban traditional methods used by chefs and others to kill lobsters and crabs in the cooking process. The proposal forms part of the Labour Party’s new animal welfare crackdown


The ban will not stop with lobsters and crabs. It will also apply to shrimp, prawns, squid, and octopus - species officially recognised as “sentient beings capable of experiencing pain and suffering” in 2022 by the previous Conservative government.


The announcement has sparked fierce backlash from restauranteurs, who argue the move will drive up costs and effectively end the sale of live shellfish. David Jarrad, chief executive of the Shellfish Association of Great Britain, warned that customers simply won’t pay premium prices for shellfish that arrive already dead.


Yet beyond the economic and practical implications lies a deeper moral question. Many of the same politicians enthusiastically supporting this ban have consistently rejected proposals to offer precautionary pain relief to unborn babies during late-term abortions. To many observers, this reveals a striking inconsistency in how suffering is acknowledged and prioritised - and the profound disregard shown toward unborn human babies.


This ethical disconnect was similarly evident in Ireland shortly before Christmas. In the Dáil, some TDs voted to ban fox hunting, citing animal welfare concerns, having voted minutes earlier to progress a Private Members’ Bill that would allow abortion on request up to birth.





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