Monkey-human hybrids cross the line
Ethicists are alarmed at the creation of part-monkey, part-human embryos called chimeras.
The Salk Institute in California inserted human cells into macaque embryos, producing chimeras which grew for 20 days before being destroyed.
The experiment has been attacked by Oxford ethicist Professor Julian Savulescu, who says it “opens Pandora’s box”. Biomedical ethicist Dr Anna Smajdor of the University of East Anglia believes the move raises “significant ethical and legal challenges”.
“I would advocate growing [a human embryo] until day 40 and then disposing of it”
In the UK, experimentation on chimeras has been legal since 2008, when Warwick University was given permission to create pig-human hybrids, but their work was considered a failure.
However, Chinese scientists have since generated human-monkey embryos, and others have grown human-mouse chimeras.
The lead scientist of the mouse research team says growing humans in the lab is next on his list. According to Technology Review, he says: “I would advocate growing it [a human embryo] until day 40 and then disposing of it.”
Life News commented: “Such thoughts and intentions are abhorrent. They set the stage for systematic exploitation of human beings. No human being should be considered disposable, brought into existence as a science experiment and then destroyed.”
Biden permits experiments on foetuses, redefines sex and forces Christian doctors into sex-change surgery on kids
The US administration has axed President Trump’s rules that stopped federally-funded experiments on aborted babies.
Joe Biden is allowing research that will “force Americans to be complicit in barbaric experiments using body parts harvested from innocent children killed in abortions, with no limits of any kind”, according to Tony Perkins, President of the Family Research Council.
The New York Times also revealed that scientists whose work with foetal tissue was rejected under Trump will immediately have their projects “reinstated without further review”.
In another dramatic move, President Biden’s administration has redefined sex as non-biological, overturning Trump’s definition of sex as the gender assigned at birth. The result is that sexual discrimination legislation will not be based on biological sex but on sexual identity.
American Principles Project President Terry Schilling said: “This policy is really about forcing hospitals and medical professionals to adhere to leftist ideology regarding sexuality and gender—and in particular to provide sex-change procedures to all comers, including children.”
Christian doctors could be forced into giving children dangerous puberty blocking drugs and sex-change surgeries if they want to keep their jobs.
Already the government has filed a lawsuit to force medical professionals to offer transgender procedures, according to LifeSiteNews.
CatholicVote president Brian Burch called it an “attack on faith-based private health care”.
Christian baker back in court
Colorado baker Jack Phillips has been taken to court again, this time after refusing to make a transgender cake.
A transgender activist alleges Phillips violated state law by refusing to make a cake celebrating gender transition.
The Christian cake shop owner eventually won a long legal battle at the Supreme Court after previously being accused of discrimination for not making a cake for a gay marriage. His business suffered and he endured years of abuse and even death threats.
As before, Phillips’ defence argues that he could not create a cake containing a message he feels contradicts his Christian beliefs.
The Alliance Defending Freedom says Colorado has created a hostile environment for Christians like Jack Phillips.
EU appoints religious freedom envoy
After two years without a Special Envoy for freedom of religion or belief outside the EU, the European Union has finally given the job to Christos Stylianides.
The European Commission appointed Stylianides in May. He was the European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management for five years. The Alliance Defending Freedom commented: “We hope that the new Special Envoy will quickly get to work focusing on the needs of the most persecuted worldwide.”
Irish Christians angered by church ban
Church leaders reacted with dismay when public Mass and other religious services in Ireland were made illegal in April.
In-person services were temporarily a criminal offence – with only virtual religious services allowed, apart from funerals and weddings.
In The Times, Ireland’s Catholic archbishops described the ban as “a potential infringement of religious freedom and constitutional rights”. Dublin pastor John Ahern told Premier it was “a very cynical move by the government” that “betrays a great hostility towards Christianity”.
Church doors were allowed to open again from 10 May, but Christian leaders wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Micheál Martin TD, demanding that the worship ban should never be repeated. The letter said that “churches were treated unfairly in this decision in comparison to commercial shops… In Scotland, the same blanket ban was struck down by the court as unlawful.”
Uganda bans gay sex
The Ugandan Parliament has passed its Sexual Offences bill, which includes a clause outlawing same-sex acts.
The bill tackles rape and prostitution, but also criminalises incest and gay activity. It won’t become law unless it is signed by President Yoweri Museveni, but as he has previously described homosexuality as “disgusting” he is expected to approve the bill.