FRANCE: Pro-lifers’ sorrow as abortion is made a right
Despite the largest pro-life demonstration in French history on 21 January in Paris, on 4 March France became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right.
“An abominable crime, the deliberate murder of an innocent human person”
At the Château de Versailles, parliamentarians voted by 780 votes to 72 for the constitutional reform put forward by President Macron’s government.
Britain’s Evangelical Times commented: “What is presented as a victory for women’s rights is, in reality, a new attack on human life at its very beginning… an abominable crime, the deliberate murder of an innocent human person.”
When abortion was first legalised in France in 1974, the Minister of Health, Simone Veil, intended it to be a last resort in difficult circumstances rather than something society should encourage. Fifty years on, it is now guaranteed as a freedom.
Pro-life campaigners, the Catholic Church and Philippe de Villiers, France’s Former Secretary of State for Culture, all spoke against the change. Villiers said: “Macron dares to speak of French pride [at this decision]. It is infamy. The homicide of innocent people is now part of the Republic’s pediment.”
Before the vote, Catholic bishops had called for prayer and fasting, saying: “Let us pray that our fellow citizens will rediscover the taste for life… for having and raising children.”
The French birth rate has been declining for over a decade – while abortion rates have increased. President Macron has highlighted the birth rate problem yet pushed the elevation of abortion into the constitution.
ARGENTINA: President bans ‘inclusive language’
President Javier Milei says a Ministry of Defence plan to “eliminate incorrect forms of language” will be implemented across all government departments.
Inclusive-language proponents have invented gender-neutral endings to Spanish words, but from now on, government wording must “correspond to the regulations set by the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) and the Argentine Academy of Letters”. The RAE sets the standards for the Spanish language and its president has previously described inclusive language as grammatical aberrations that should not be used.
President Milei has condemned “gender ideology”
President Milei, who had a Catholic upbringing and particularly admires the Old Testament, has condemned “gender ideology” and denounced the World Economic Forum’s “bloody abortion agenda”.
GHANA: Homosexuality ban passed
A bill banning gay activity, campaigning and same-sex marriage, as well as adoption by homosexuals, has been approved by Ghana’s politicians.
The Act also outlaws gender-changing surgery
The Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Act, first introduced as a bill in June 2021, finally passed in February. The Act also tackles transgender ideology by outlawing gender-changing surgery.
The penalty for homosexual acts is six months to three years in jail, while promoting homosexuality risks a sentence of three to five years. However, the bill needs to be approved by Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo, who has previously been in favour of gay rights.
LifeSiteNews commented: “Africa’s continued resistance to the acceptance of sodomy has led pro-LGBT international bodies and countries including the United States government, the European Union, the United Nations and the World Bank to attempt to force countries in the region to abandon their principles or face financial or economic consequences.”
CANADA: ‘Hate crime’ retrial for Christian campaigner
A Canadian Christian who has already been acquitted of a ‘hate crime’ is being taken back to court.
Bill Whatcott from Alberta handed out leaflets warning against homosexual acts during a 2016 gay pride parade in Toronto. He was exonerated in 2021, yet three years on Canada’s Supreme Court has ruled that he must be retried for “wilful promotion of hatred”.
Gay campaigners launched an incredible $104 million lawsuit against him
Whatcott and his friends distributed about 3,000 packages containing Scripture verses and photos of sexually transmitted diseases, warning of the dangers but also sharing the good news that Jesus died for all, including homosexuals.
Gay campaigners launched an incredible $104 million lawsuit against Whatcott, in an obvious attempt to financially ruin him and his supporters. After initial failures, the lawsuit was dropped. But in 2018 Ontario’s government took up the liberal cause, charging Whatcott with Public Incitement of Hate.
Whatcott was arrested and then released on bail. His case progressed through the legal system until he was finally found not guilty at the Superior Court for Ontario in 2021. The Attorney General of Ontario rejected the verdict and appealed the decision, leading eventually to the Supreme Court’s decision to try him again.