End EU Funding for Embryonic Research - Sign the 'One of Us' Petition

       Massacre of the Innocents - Giotto Di Bondone (c1300)

The massacre of the Innocents ordered by King Herod shortly after Christ's birth, never ceases to horrify all decent minded people.Yet this was just a foretaste of the horrors currently inflicted on literally millions of unborn children throughout the world. In the USA alone it is estimated that there are one million abortions each year - this includes the estimated abortions induced by the 'morning after' abortifacient pill. Add to this the countless numbers of abortions every year in Western Europe, Russia, China, Asia, and the rest of the world, and it is easy to give way to despair and a feeling of helplessness in the fight against such widespread evil. We see governments throughout the world endorsing the killing of the unborn, and going even further by authorising scientific research entailing the destruction of vast numbers of human embryos.

Yet we must not give up the fight against such evil, for God created man in His own image and likeness, and He was pleased; and God is good and God's creation is good. God is Life and the Light of Men. Evil is the dark world of Satan, the antithesis of all that brings us peace in this life and eternal happiness in the next; the antithesis of good, the antithesis of God. We can do nothing without God, and He has no need for us, yet we are the instruments He uses in His Divine plan - we are His soldiers and we must carry the fight to the enemy.

Below is an article I recently found on the C-Fam website, which I don't remember seeing before, and which is reproduced below for the information of others who also may not have seen it. It incorporates a Petition - the 'One of Us' petition, which if sufficiently endorsed, could force the European Parliament to consider a ban on funding research that destroys human embryos. So far it has obtained over 850,000 signatories, but it needs another 150,000 by November 1. Overall this Petition is doing  really well, but the numbers of signatories from the UK so far are disappointingly low. I have now signed it, and if you have not already done so, ask that you sign it too. A successful outcome to this initiative will be a victory for good over evil, life over death; a victory for the God of love, over Satan, the apotheosis of hate. 

Please see the article reproduced below, and forward the Petition (link included in article)  to family, friends, and like-minded people; thank you. PS. Don't forget to sign it! When authenticating your signature I recommend the aural version, as I tried probably a dozen times on the visual - on every occasion unsuccessfully. The aural system worked but I suggest to write down the numbers before entering them on the Petition. Excuse me for labouring this, but it was a bit of a nightmare!

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The “One of Us” petition got a boost in May when Pope Francis endorsed it.

BRUSSELS, August 16 (C-FAM)

'Europe's most audacious effort to protect life is a few thousand signatures away from forcing the European Parliament to schedule a debate on protecting every human life from conception'

Written by  Stefano Gennarini, J.D.

Every person, no matter how young, “deserves respect” according to the One of Us initiative that has garnered over 850,000 signatures. If it gathers 1 million signatories by November 1, the European Parliament may have to consider a ban on funding research that destroys human embryos.

The European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union (EU), would have to respond to the sponsors of One of Us under a new procedure created by the Lisbon Treaty. The Commission would table the item for discussion in the European Parliament.

Proponents say One of Us is about protecting the “dignity, the right to life and the integrity of every human being” including embryos. This is consistent with the European Court of Justice’s decision in the famous Brüstle v. Greenpeace case that, under EU directives, the results of research that destroys human embryos cannot be patented.

The Court reasoned that human embryos constitute the beginning of the development of human life and such patents would not be compatible with human dignity.

Not everyone in Europe looks forward to a debate about human life and dignity at the European Parliament. Earlier this summer an Austrian youth organization tried to host an event at the European Parliament to draw attention to the One of Us initiative, but Irish EU official Jim Higgins refused their application. He reportedly told them their display was “too controversial” without specifying what was controversial about it. The organization was not allowed to hold their event despite the youth organization’s willingness to change whatever Higgins found offensive.

While abortion is legal in most of Europe, research that destroys 

human embryos is widely frowned upon. In many quarters it is 

reminiscent of brutal scientific experiments on humans.

One of Us would be the second EU citizen’s initiatives to succeed. The other seeks to declare water a human right and has gathered 1.3 million signatures in Germany and 400,000 elsewhere in Europe.

For a petition to come before the European Commission, 1 million signatures must be collected within a year of being launched and come from seven or more of the 28 EU countries, with established quotas for each.

Obtaining the required signatures in the timeframe is no simple feat. Nine other initiatives that expire this year are likely to fail, including one chosen by the European Commission as the first citizen’s initiative. Fraternite2020, about more funding for the popular Erasmus student exchange program, could not muster 100,000 signatures.

One of Us has already reached the necessary quota in 10 countries, and now looks to bulk up the total volume. Surprisingly, it is short on signatures from countries that are traditionally pro-life and have laws that protect the unborn like Ireland and Malta.

One of Us has been endorsed by several European pro-life organizations. Prior to his retirement in February, Pope Benedict XVI gave a nod to its proponents in one of his last public appearances at a Sunday Angelus.

(ack. C-Fam)

                                                       
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Coronation of the Virgin - fresco by Fra Angelico (1395-1455)

            'But see, above the choirs
                           Of Saints and angels bright,
                               God's Mother near her Son
                                      Enthroned in dazzling light.'
                                          
                (Thoughts from St Alphonsus (1696-1787)