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19th March 2021
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In this issue:

ACTION: Have your say about RTÉ - closing date this Sunday 21st March (#rte)

READ: Arlene Foster demands assurances from Boris Johnson’s government over Northern Ireland’s abortion law (#nii)

WATCH: Beautiful message in video marking World Down Syndrome Day 2021 (#vid)

ACTION: TOMORROW - Community Connect National Donation Day. Register for Click For Pick Up and help mothers and babies in need. (#cc)

READ: Uyghur women talk about cultural genocide and forced abortions (#uch)

READ: Portuguese ruling deals a blow to pro-euthanasia lobby, but a setback for pro-life advocates in Spain (#ptg)

WATCH: End of Life Matters conference now available to view on Hope Ireland Website (#hii)

WATCH: Watch the latest edition of ‘Plugged-In’ with Críostíona Ní Laimhín (#pij)

ACTION ALERT: The Pro Life Campaign needs YOU! - Please take our Chnage Begins With You! Survey (#cby)

APPLY NOW: Virtual Internship with the PLC (#7)

Have your say about RTÉ - closing date this Sunday 21st March ()
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RTÉ is currently in the process of preparing a new ‘Public Service Statement’ and is requesting feedback from the public in advance of its publication. In the advertisement requesting input from the public, RTÉ says: “We want to understand what you think about RTÉ and what you want from it. Your views will guide what we will do over the years ahead.”

Pro-life supporters have every reason not to trust RTÉ’s commitment to fair and impartial broadcasting after years of one-sided slanted coverage on the abortion issue. However, this should not dissuade us in any way from contributing to the latest request for feedback. It's vital that we avail of every opportunity to have our voices heard.

The survey is being conducted by Behaviour & Attitudes (B&A) on behalf of RTÉ. The closing date for completing it is this coming Sunday 21st March. For a link to the survey and information about the privacy policy surrounding it, click
here ([link removed])

Even if you just submit one short paragraph, make your voice heard today!
Arlene Foster demands assurances from Boris Johnson’s government over Northern Ireland’s abortion law ()
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Northern Ireland’s First Minister Arlene Foster is seeking an urgent meeting with the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Brandon Lewis, after his office threatened to bypass the Stormont assembly and impose abortion provision on Northern Ireland against the wishes of members of the Northern Ireland Assembly.

In 2019, MPs in Westminster voted to impose wide-ranging abortion on Northern Ireland during the period when the Northern Ireland Assembly was temporarily suspended.

Once the Assembly was back up and running, significant opposition was expressed by MLAs to the imposition of abortion by the Westminster parliament.

An indication of where members of the Northern Ireland Assembly stand on the issue was on display earlier this week when MLAs voted 48 to 12 to pass the second stage of the DUP Private Members’ Bill outlawing abortion up to birth where an unborn baby is diagnosed with Down syndrome or any other non-fatal disability. The result should give encouragement to every pro-life supporter.

Before the vote, Arlene Foster and others gave impassioned speeches in favour of the Bill, with Ms Foster comparing the abortion of unborn babies with Down syndrome to eugenics.

In advance of the vote, disability rights campaigner, Heidi Crowter, who herself has Down syndrome, told the Health Committee of the Northern Ireland Assembly that “the law in Great Britain, and now sadly the law in Northern Ireland, tells me and other people with Down syndrome that we are worth less than those without disabilities. That is why I want my voice to be heard and the laws to be fairer. My husband also has Down Syndrome and I value him and I think society should too. The law makes me feel very sad it is saying that I, and people like me, may as well have not been born”.

Sinn Féin was widely criticised for abstaining in Monday’s vote. Aontú’s representative for East Derry Gemma Brolly accused Sinn Féin of talking a lot about disability rights while at the same time refusing to take a stand in opposition to the deeply discriminatory abortion law forced upon Northern Ireland by Westminster.

When Westminster sought to impose the change on Northern Ireland in 2019, it was left to the DUP and others to oppose the move, as Sinn Féin largely welcomed the imposition from London. Now that the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland is threatening to give effect to those changes through further diktat from the Westminster parliament, once again it is the DUP and not Sinn Féin who are speaking up for devolution and the right to the Northern Ireland Assembly to decide the law on abortion.
The antics of Sinn Féin this week was plain for all to see. They tried to please everyone and ended up pleasing no one. They chose pragmatism over principle and figured they could get away with it.

But the abortion issue is not like other issues. You either stand up for life or you don’t. The last thing voters appreciate are their elected representatives trying to have it every way. It might work with other issues but not with abortion. This week Sinn Féin got caught “speaking out both sides of their mouth”, as Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín put it. Every pro-life voter needs to take note and never forget it.
Beautiful message in video marking World Down Syndrome Day 2021 ()
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‘The Hiring Chain’ is the title of a wonderful new video marking World Down Syndrome Day 2021.

It focuses on the chain reaction that happens when one employer decides to hire a person with Down syndrome and how the positivity associated with the move spreads throughout the community.

It is a beautiful and timely message to share with people as we prepare for World Down Syndrome Day which takes place this Sunday 21st March.

The musician Sting provides the musical accompaniment to the video which adds a really nice touch to the whole thing.

You can view the video
here ([link removed])
TOMORROW - Community Connect National Donation Day. Register for Click For Pick Up and help mothers and babies in need. ()
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Community Connect are running a Click for Pickup National Donation Day TOMORROW Saturday 20th March!

DONATE TO HELP MOTHERS AND BABIES IN NEED

Donate to support their work in four simple steps!
1. Visit www.communityconnect.ie/clickforpickup/ and check if Community Connect is collecting in your location
2. Look at the list of items and decide what you would like to donate (they are asking for new items eg nappies, wipes that can be picked up in any supermarket; cash donations can also be accepted in envelope)
3. Register your details on the form provided.
4. Leave your items outside your door in a waterproof bag or bin liner by 1pm on Saturday March 20th, and volunteers will pick it up, totally contact-free!

If you are outside the list of areas where donations can be made, or won't be able to get to the shops in time, you can sponsor a gift instead at www.communityconnect.ie/sponsor-a-gift ([link removed]) / ([link removed]) , and volunteers will buy and prepare the items on your behalf.

Thank you for your support for those in need.

Please help them support young families in need by donating new baby items such as nappies, babygros and blankets.
Thank you for your support for those in need.

For more information, see
here ([link removed]) .
Uyghur women talk about cultural genocide and forced abortions ()
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Gulzia Mogdin was on her way back from Kazakhstan to China in 2017 when she was stopped by Chinese police and forced to take a pregnancy test. When it was discovered she was pregnant her unborn baby was forcibly aborted.

Her story, recently published by Op India, is one of countless accounts of forced abortions and other human rights abuses in China. What is happening, especially to the Uyghur people in the Xinjiang province, amounts to cultural genocide.

Rape, torture, forced sterilizations, forced abortions and the incarceration of entire families is widespread and demands actions from governments in the West, including Ireland.

This week, Op India shared Guizia Mogdin’s story and the story of other women who have escaped from the control of the Chinese Communist Party.

Last week, an independent report authored by more than 50 international human rights experts estimated that in the past 8 years some 2 million Uyghurs have been “eradicated” by Chinese authorities.

There is no excusing the timid and ineffective response of our government to this mass genocide, which is being allowed continue as a result of weak leaders choosing to look the other way.

Link to ‘Op India’ story
here ([link removed])
Portuguese ruling deals a blow to pro-euthanasia lobby, but a setback for pro-life advocates in Spain ()
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Portugal’s highest court has ruled that a new bill passed in January sanctioning euthanasia is unconstitutional.

The Constitutional Court adjudicated on the matter after the President of Portugal referred the bill to the court to test its constitutionality before signing it into law.

In a 7:5 ruling on Monday, the judges agreed with President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s assessment that the legislation contained “excessively undefined concepts.” As is the case with similar bills in other countries, including Ireland, the definitions and terms used in the bill were unclear, imprecise and open to widespread abuse.

Monday’s ruling is a definite setback to the pro-euthanasia lobby. It won’t stop them from continuing to push for changes to the law but it does draw much needed attention to the way words and language are used and twisted in the debate, and the consequences of all this for the most vulnerable members of society.

However in Spain, by a 202 to 141 parliamentary vote on Thursday, final approval was given to a bill which legalises euthanasia. This is a worrying development, as Spain will become the fifth European country to legislate for some form of euthanised or assisted suicide.

The debate surrounding the Dying with Dignity Bill currently before the Dáil has drawn attention to similar issues regarding the misleading use of language, such as the impression that for some people ‘dying with dignity’ can only take place with euthanasia. In this regard, Monday’s ruling is a timely and helpful decision.
End of Life Matters conference now available to view on Hope Ireland Website ()
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Due to the large amount of interest in the recent Hope Ireland conference against euthanasia (with 1000 people registered to attend) videos of the event are now available on their website. You can find a link to the page here ([link removed]) .

The videos which are available to watch include:
* End of Life Matters Conference - full video ([link removed])
* Conor Lynott - Disability Rights Interview ([link removed])
* Prof Ilora, Baroness Finlay - Medicine, Law & Ethics of Euthanasia ([link removed])
* Palliative Medicine Panel Discussion on Euthanasia & Assisted Suicide ([link removed])
* Kathleen Rogers - Living with Motor Neurone Disease ([link removed])
* Elma Walsh - the Donal Walsh #LiveLife anti-suicide message ([link removed])
* Alex Schadenberg - Euthanasia & Assisted Suicide in North America ([link removed])
* Joan Freeman - Mental Health & End of Life ([link removed])
* Final Conference Q&A ([link removed])

Also, this week a number of Hope Ireland contributors spoke out in the media.

Kathleen Rogers
was interviewed ([link removed]) on Newstalk radio on Thursday at lunchtime, and Conor Lynott's letter to the editor ([link removed]) of the Irish Times was published too.

For updates on the so-called Dying with Dignity Bill, you can join the Hope Ireland email list on their
website ([link removed]) .
Watch the latest edition of ‘Plugged-In’ with Críostíona Ní Laimhín ()
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In this latest edition of ‘Plugged-In’ Críostíona Ní Laimhín outlines her take on some of the pro-life stories making the news.

The huge increase in ambulance call outs in Wales following DIY abortions, the upcoming Roe V Wade movie which will shed a light on how abortion became legal in the US, and the huge amount of money being spent on abortion provision in Ireland with no focus on positive alternatives to women.

Please Watch and Share.
The Pro Life Campaign Needs YOU! - Please take our Change Begins With You! Survey ()
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The Pro Life Campaign needs you! Your skills, knowledge and commitment can help us to work towards a brighter future.

Please take a moment to fill in our survey
and remember - Change Begins With YOU!

Survey Link Here ([link removed])

The aim of this campaign is to encourage people to get involved with the PLC. We really need your help with this.

We are looking for some motivational videos and pictures. If you could take a few minutes today or tomorrow to do any of the following this would really help make a difference

- TAKE A SHORT VIDEO of yourself (20 Seconds max) telling people why you are pro-life or your favourite pro-life quote and encouraging other people to get involved - finish with the words "Change begins with you"

and/or

- TAKE A SELFIE of yourself holding up a homemade sign with the words "Change begins with You!"

Please text or whatsapp 0868246507, or send by email to
[email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
APPLY NOW - Virtual Internship with the PLC ()

Would you like to experience working with a pro-active Human Rights organisation?

If you would like, APPLY HERE ([link removed]) to our exciting virtual intern programme for students!
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Participants on the programme will have an opportunity to network with other young people and develop skills in advocacy, campaign management and project planning.

Internships run for one-week periods and are suitable for second level (Transition year or older) and third level students.

Each intern will do 4 hours supervised work each day and will be working on areas such as social media, contact with members of the movement nationwide, project planning and contributing to support work for women and their babies.

Internships are not paid, however expenses will be covered.

If you or a family member is interested, please complete the below form and we will be in touch with you presently. Placements are subject to availability.

Thank you!

Apply Now by filling in the application form ([link removed])
Follow us on social media!

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mailto:[email protected]
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Vital Signs is the e-newsletter of the Pro Life Campaign. We hope you and your families are keeping well in these unusual times. This email is to update you on what we have been working on recently, including news stories, project updates, and details of upcoming events. If you want to get in touch with us please do so by emailing [email protected]

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