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Right-to-die pioneer loses appeal
Plans plea to European court
On November 29, Britain’s House of Lords rendered what seemed to be a final decision in a long-running test case, refusing permission for a terminally ill woman to commit suicide with her husband’s help.

Diane Pretty, who suffers from motor-neurone disease, had been seeking an assurance that her husband, Brian, would not be prosecuted if he helped her to commit suicide. Having been turned down by the court of appeal she took her case to the House of Lords, the highest court in Britain. In the judgment, Lord Bingham of Cornhill said that assisted suicide was against the law and no one had the power to suspend or abandon laws without parliamentary consent.

Archbishop Peter Smith of Cardiff remarked, “The Law Lords have rightly upheld the long-standing prohibition against euthanasia and assisted suicide which exists, among other things, to protect the weak and vulnerable members of society.” He continued, “No one can fail to be moved by the suffering of Diane Pretty and her husband . . . . However, with the continuing development of good quality palliative care, much can be done to alleviate such suffering and help maintain the dignity of those who are afflicted with terminal illness.”

However, the case may not yet be fully resolved. Diane Pretty says that she will fight on, and will now take her case before the European Court of Human Rights. “The Law Lords don’t want to admit that the law is wrong,” she said in response to the ruling. Her husband told reporters, “I’m feeling tired, but she wants to carry on, so I shall carry on with her.”

Cloning ban rushed into law
Pro-life lobby unsatisfied
The House of Commons has passed emergency legislation that purports to outlaw the cloning of human beings in Britain. But pro-lifers have complained that the new law contains as many loopholes as the old one.

The Human Reproductive Cloning Bill was pushed through the Commons in a single day, after a court judgment two weeks earlier had effectively removed all legal controls on the use of cloned human embryos. Health Minister Hazel Blears said quick passage of the new measure was essential to prevent maverick scientists from exploiting the unresolved legal situation.

But four Conservative MPs—Edward Leigh, Ann Widdecombe, David Amess, and Andrew Selous—tried to derail the legislative express. They argued that the bill left ample room for experimental cloning on human subjects, pointing out that it still allowed human embryos to be created, stored, exported, or implanted in an artificial womb or in an animal. After their effort to strengthen the bill by amendment was defeated, by 288 votes to 49, Ann Widdecombe said: “This bill is a disgrace.” She accused the government of putting forward sloppy legislation because of a “terrible panic” over the issue.

Prior to the vote, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor of Westminster had pointed out that the new legislation did not actually outlaw the cloning of human beings, but only the implantation of cloned human embryos in a woman’s womb. Thus, he said, the legislation “merely prevents an attempt to give the clone a chance of being born.” John Smeaton, national director of the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, said the law needed to be “fundamentally changed.”

Invitation to a prelate
Queen’s gesture shows new attitude
The Queen of England has made the unprecedented gesture of inviting Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor to stay at her Norfolk home and to preach to the royal family during their annual winter break.

Such an invitation would have been unthinkable less than a generation ago and shows the great strides made in ecumenical relations in Britain since 1982 when Queen Elizabeth II, who is supreme gover of the Church of England, welcomed Pope John Paul to Buckingham Palace.

Cardinal Murphy-O’Connor will stay on the estate at Sandringham on the weekend of January 12 and 13. It is expected that Prince Philip, the Queen Mother, and other members of the Royal Family will be in residence on the same weekend. “The cardinal is greatly honored by the Queen’s invitation,” his spokesman told the Daily Telegraph. “This is a further sign of the Queen’s own determination to promote ecumenical relations within the nation.” A Palace spokesman acknowledged the historic significance of the invitation. He said, “This is in the spirit of cooperation, unity, and friendship that Her Majesty has always practiced. It is a sign of the ecumenical age we are in.”

For centuries British Catholics have been suspected of giving their first allegiance to Rome rather than to the monarch. Even now Catholics are still prevented from becoming Prime Minister or attaining certain other positions of power or prestige. In November 1995 Queen Elizabeth became the first British monarch since the 16th century to take part in a Catholic service when she attended vespers at Westminster Cathedral. She was also an admirer of the late Cardinal Basil Hume, whom she called “my cardinal.”

School integration demanded
Religious schools receive ultimatum
Catholic, Anglican, and other single-faith schools must integrate into the local community if they are to continue receiving government support, Britain’s Education Secretary has announced. In a speech to the Church of England general synod, Estelle Morris said single-faith schools within the state-funded sector must become part of “the local family of schools.”

Prime Minister Tony Blair has supported an expansion of single-faith schools—a position he made public in a white paper released in September—on the grounds that their competitive approach can produce better results on examinations. But Phil Willis, the Liberal Democrat education spokesman, told The Guardian: “It is unacceptable that the state should fund schools, of whatever faith, which have become exclusive, erecting barriers against children who cannot meet the faith test.”

Censoring science
Catholic paper turns down pro-life ad
The weekly Catholic publication, The Tablet, has asked a pro-life group to re-word a regular advertisement, after the British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upheld a complaint that the group’s message is misleading.

The ASA ruled that an ad placed by the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) is wrong because it described the morning-after pill as “abortion-inducing.” In its adjudication, the ASA said that the British government has defined pregnancy as beginning after a fertilized egg had implanted in the womb. It asked SPUC to make it clear to readers that the claim put forward in the advertisement was an expression of SPUC’s own opinion.

The Tablet accepted the ASA ruling, and asked SPUC to alter the wording. But SPUC’s director John Smeaton rejected the ASA’s decision. He said the reference to “abortion-inducing morning-after pills” was “simple and unambiguous biology” and was supported by medical and scientific sources. He also pointed to Pope John Paul encyclical Evangelium Vitae, which states that a human being comes into existence from the moment of fertilization.

Advertisers who refuse to withdraw or modify an advertisement in breach of ASA guidelines can face prosecution by the Office of Fair Trading.

Back to Catholic World Report January 2002 Table of Contents