Articles for Month: December 2008

 By Thadddeus M. Baklinski CLEVELAND, Ohio, December 22, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Dr. Arthur Caplan, Chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and Director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, was quoted by the Associated Press as saying that the woman who was given an near-total face transplant recently should be offered the option of killing herself if the operation proves unsuccessful. “The biggest ethical problem is dealing with failure — if your face rejects. It would be a living hell,” said Caplan. “If your face is falling off and you can’t eat and you […]

By Kathleen Gilbert SACRAMENTO, December 22, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – California Attorney General Jerry Brown has reversed his pledge to uphold the decision of the voters on Proposition 8, telling the Supreme Court Friday that he would instead attack the amendment he was to defend in court. In a 111-page court brief, Brown based his reversal on the theory that an amendment extinguishing “fundamental constitutional rights without compelling justification” ought to be nullified, even if legitimately voted into law. “There are certain rights that are not to be subject to popular votes, otherwise they are not fundamental rights,” said Brown in […]

By Hilary White BRUSSELS, December 22, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Prime Minister of the Republic of Ireland has committed his country to a second referendum on the ratification of the European Union’s Lisbon Treaty. The Irish Times reports that the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Brian Cowen said at a Brussels press conference, “On the basis of today’s agreement, I am prepared to go back to the Irish people next year.” The Irish government is claiming to have secured “legal guarantees” from the European Union on “ethical issues,” taxation, neutrality and the retention of Ireland’s EU commissioner. Among the ethical issues in […]

By Hilary White LANCASTER, UK, December 22, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A UK Catholic Bishop has carried out his threat to de-fund the formerly Catholic charitable organisation that had been attached to his diocese over their decision to begin considering homosexual partners in their adoption services. Bishop Patrick O’Donohue of Lancaster in North West England, wrote in an open letter to the adoption agency that the date of his resignation from the board “will forever be etched” in his memory “because it was on that day that the relationship between the Diocese of Lancaster and Catholic Caring Services suffered an irretrievable […]

Donate before December 31st

Our fundraising campaign is in the final stretch.   So far, 925 LifeSiteNews reader have donated a total of $49,123 for an average donation of about $49 in response to our Christmas campaign.   This has been one of our most successful fundraising years ever, but it has not come to an end yet! More is needed. If everyone pitches in before the New Year our readers may yet cover the majority or even all of our expenses for the past year,   Have you made a donation yet?    Stop for a moment and ask yourself: During the last […]

Commentary by Wesley J. Smith December 19, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Can you imagine if “the experts” suggested that genetic tests be done on all pregnant women to screen for supposedly undesirable racial characteristics or a propensity for homosexuality (if that could be done), with the goal of vastly reducing the number of babies born with those traits? There would a clarion outcry. Well, that is precisely what is happening in Australia, only the targets are unborn babies with Down syndrome, people that “the experts” want very much to cull from society by preventing most from ever being born. From the […]

Editorial by John-Henry Westen   VATICAN CITY, December 19, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) –  Now this is not a normal news item, but a change to the Vatican website to add Google search capability needs to be pointed out.  The immense archives on the Vatican site are now searchable through a dedicated Google interface.   Between you, me and the gatepost, the Vatican website’s old search engine was notoriously hard to figure out.  This is a change worthy of note to the many researchers and writers out there who look to LifeSiteNews for resources.   This is an early Christmas present for researchers – have […]

VATICAN, December 19, 2008 (CWNews.com/LifeSiteNews.com) – The Vatican’s permanent observer at the UN has opposed a resolution that decries discrimination on the basis of “sexual orientation and gender identity.” Archbishop Celestino Migliore said that the Holy See endorsed the proposal’s condemnation of violence against homosexuals, and agrees with the call “to put an end to all criminal penalties against them.”  However, the archbishop said, the non-binding resolution – introduced by France and the Netherlands, and endorsed by 66 UN member-states – “goes well beyond the above-mentioned and shared intent.” He explained that the terms “sexual orientation and gender identity” are […]

By Kathleen Gilbert LONDON, December 19, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) – London’s Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) has overturned a ruling that granted compensation to a U.K. registrar subjected to harassment and the potential loss of her job after refusing to conduct civil unions between same-sex couples. The court ruled that Islington Council of north London had not unjustly discriminated against 47-year-old Lillian Ladele, who objected to involvement in the unions because of her Christian beliefs. “The council were not taking disciplinary action against Ms Ladele for holding her religious beliefs,” stated the EAT ruling.  “They did so because she was refusing to […]