Tag Archives: abortion

The Pope in Ireland, The World Meeting of Families and the media

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It’s Saturday morning. Pope Francis lands in Ireland, Niall’s native land. Niall is eager to switch on the computer. Through a live feed we can watch the Pope’s visit without filters or commentary as he goes through a day of meetings, speeches and journeys. With only the images and the sounds of the moment to see and hear, we manage to follow the visit as we do our usual household chores. Our children know that it’s a special day and only a worthy exception justifies us having a computer turned on during mealtime as we listen to the speeches of(…)

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When are you having an amniocentesis?

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This question to a 46-year old pregnant woman is so common it deserves some attention here. My response is quite naturally that I don’t do amniocentesis. And then the surprise reaction, “but isn’t it compulsory at your age?” Amniocentesis is an invasive pre-natal diagnosis that holds a minimum risk of miscarriage (generally 1 out of 100 to 300, depending on the expertise of the doctor and the gestation period) and has a sole purpose – to detect genetic malformations in the baby, or to say it plainly, to check if the baby has Trisomy 21 (Down syndrome). There are diseases(…)

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Life, Death, Love…and no more wine!

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Yesterday was a celebration here in our house: the Parliament in Portugal rejected draft legislation on euthanasia, and the victory of life must be celebrated. But the celebration wasn’t as great as it might have been for it was clouded by the resounding defeat of life in our other country, Ireland, at the end of last week. Niall especially, who loves his country, has suffered terribly with the news coming out of there. How was it possible, and above all, how do the Irish justify the celebrations, the euphoria, the victory cries in the face of rivers of innocent blood(…)

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