In the wake of a scandal in which blenders were used to cover up illegal late term abortions, Spanish priest, Fr Joan Manuel Serra, has petitioned King Juan Carlos not to sign a royal decree that would legalise the use of "baby crushing machines".
Catholic News Agency reports Fr Serra, a priest of the Diocese of Sant Feliu de Llobregat, has asked King Juan Carlos of Spain not to sign a royal decree that would modify mortuary policies and would make it legal to use "baby crushing machines" that would be used on the remains of babies aborted up to the seventh month of pregnancy in abortion clinics.
In an open letter, Fr Serra recalled that current policy "obliges abortion 'clinics' to consider the remains of an abortion as cadavers, when they are human remains 'of a sufficient entity,' that is, at eleven or twelve weeks of pregnancy, and transfer them to a cemetery for their posterior dignified incineration or burial."
However, after the scandal of the Ginemedex Clinic, where it was discovered that blenders were being used to cover up illegal late term abortions, the government, "with the supposed support of the main opposition party," has proposed changing the norms for mortuaries "so that the 'remains' of an abortion not be considered ‘human remains of sufficient entity' until after the 28th week of gestation," that is, nearly the seventh month of pregnancy.
"Your majesty, we are reaching levels of inhumanity that are completely inadmissible and that are putting the very foundation of our society at risk," Fr Serra said. "If we do not protect the right to life of all," even those who are weakest, we are laying "the foundations of a very violent society that will end up destroying itself."
Fr Serra told King Juan Carlos that if the current policy is kept in place, "of properly burying or incinerating the human remains of abortions during the first few weeks, at least we would be giving a humane message to society. This will make many people think again about the value of human life from the moment of conception."
Bracks backs Vic abortion bill
Meanwhile, former Victorian premier Steve Bracks has backed controversial legislation to legalise abortions in Victoria, despite his reluctance to take on the issue during his eight year premiership, the Herald-Sun reports.
In his first public comments on the abortion bill before Parliament, Mr Bracks supported his successor's push for decriminalisation, saying the bill reflected existing arrangements.
"I can see no problem in codifying what already exists and is in operation currently, and that's really what's before the Parliament," he said.
But Liberal backbencher and long time anti-abortion campaigner Bernie Finn, a Catholic, said that as the father of two sons with profound disabilities, he was revolted by what he said was the general acceptance by many MPs that abortion was the "cure" for disability.
"Just because somebody has a disability, it doesn't in any way diminish their humanity," he said.
Mr Finn said the "extremist" bill would "legalise baby killing until birth."
"A vote for this bill is a vote to send God alone knows how many innocent babies to a gruesome and a painful death."
Mr Finn suggested sensitive MPs might like to leave the house before describing how some abortions were performed. He said so-called partial birth abortions involved a catheter being inserted into the skull and the brain being sucked out.
SOURCE
Open letter asks King of Spain not to sign decree allowing aborted babies to be ground up (Catholic News Agency, 7/10/08)
France recommends women who had abortions in Barcelona get tested for AIDS (Catholic News Agency, 29/9/08)
Bracks finally has say on abortion (Herald-Sun, 9/10/08)