Right to Life

(Right to Life and Passion for Life Campaign led by Lord Alton of Liverpool is seeking to get the electorate to get answers from all parliamentary candidates in the forthcoming election on important pro life issues and to vote accordingly).

Right to Life is a political lobby group defending the right to life from conception to natural death. It works more closely with Pro Life Parliamentarians and the All Party Parliamentary Pro Life Group than any other political lobby group defending the Right to Life from conception to natural death. It’s recent campaigns have been on the Human Fertilization and Embryology Act, campaigning against the production of human embryos, hybrid (animal/human) embryos, saviour siblings and defending the child’s right to a father.

More recently RTL raised awareness and lobbied Peers to vote against an amendment to the Coroners and Justice Bill that would have assisted suicide.

The organisation is now opposing the Director of Public Prosecutions’ Guidelines on Assisted Suicide which they consider overrules the Primacy of Parliament in legalising assisted suicide.

RTL documents and records how MPs vote on all life issues, so that interested parties can find out how their MPs have voted.

The RTL lobby group also has a separate Trust - please see their website here.

The Right to Life Charitable Trust works to help some of the most vulnerable members of our society. They provide support for pregnant women in difficult circumstances and work for the sick and the elderly: people who find themselves in need and have nowhere else to turn. They have also financed a number of cases where families have been concerned about the hospital treatment received by relatives at the end of life.

HFE bill; The results!

In the House of Commons on Wednesday evening (22nd Oct), MPs voted for the HFE bill, and all the devastating effects it will have on the sanctity and dignity of human life. However, there is some good news. The government had come under enormous pressure not to change the abortion law, event though many extreme backbench pro-abortion MPs had been pushing for a mass liberalisation of the law for months. The Passion for Life campaign would like to thank all it's supporters for distributing almost 2million postcards, attending public meetings the length and bread of the UK, emailing, writing, phoning MPs, and making it very clear indeed that the public do not want more liberalisation of the abortion act. On the votes that took place, here's how your MP voted. Please make sure you drop them a line to thank them if they voted how you wanted, or to express your disapointment if they didn't!

Abolish Bishops

A group called Power 2010 has been running a campaign urging people to mass mail bishops asking them to abolish themselves from the House of Lords (slight simplification). The Ekklesia website has been supporting this, and so far over 50000 e-mails have been sent, although the number of senders is a tiny fraction of this given that the 'easy to use tool' has all of the bishops names ticked by default, meaning that they all get sent identical messages.

Boris coming to Scarborough?

BORIS Johnson, London's new mayor, may apply to be the latest steward and bailiff of the Manor of Northstead in Scarbor-ough – and will get an invite to the town from MP Robert Goodwill if he does.

Mr Johnson has stepped down as an MP following his success in the London elections – but has to to undergo a bizarre technical procedure to vacate his Henley seat in the House of Commons.

MPs are not allowed to resign their seats, so in order to leave the Commons they have to disqualify themselves from being a member.They must apply to the Chancellor of the Exchequer for an office of profit under the Crown, which then makes them ineligible to sit in the Commons.Two obsolete offices are now used – the stewards of the Manor of Northstead and the Chiltern Hundreds.Mr Johnson made it clear he would step down, if successful in the recent London election – and Mr Goodwill thinks it would be a good opportunity to let him visit his manor.He said: "I am not sure of the timing but it would be incompatible to be Mayor of London and to be representing the people of Henley. No doubt we could invite him up here to carry out some of his duties."

The Manor of Northstead and the Chiltern Hundreds are used in rotation.Tony Blair was appointed as the steward of the Chiltern Hundreds last year when he stepped down as Prime Minister and MP for the constituency of Sedgefield.Mr Goodwill said he had heard of the tradition before becoming an MP but never connected it to Scarborough's Northstead. He said: "You don't resign from Parliament you ask to be appointed to this position."It'd be interesting to see if he would like to come to Scarborough to inspect his manor. I will drop him an email to remind him where it is."He added that he did not think Mr Johnson would upset people in Scarborough as was the case when he made some unfortunate comments about Liverpool.Mr Goodwill added: "Scarborough is a wonderful place and his days of gaffes are over."

Peasholm Beck marked the ancient boundary on the northern side of the borough of Scarborough – beyond it was the Manor of Northstead.The area was initially a collection of fields and farms but, by 1600, the manor house had fallen into disrepair and was occupied only by a shepherd.The property is believed to have stood on the area covered by the lake in Peasholm Park.The manor was bought by King Richard III with Scarborough Corporation taking over the land, which was known as the Northstead Estate, from the Crown in 1921.The lordship of the manor was kept by the Crown which meant the stewardship of the Manor became a Crown office.Traditionally it is used as a procedural device for MPs to resign which they are not permitted to do.Under the Act of Settlement, any MP accepting an office of profit under the Crown must give up his or her seat.Previous stewards of the Manor of Northstead have included Sir Anthony Eden, Rev. Ian Paisley, Enoch Powell, Matthew Parris, Robert Kilroy-Silk, Leon Brittan and Peter Mandelson.

Candlemas Challenge

This article appears in the February Parish Magazine of St Martin-on-the-hill, Scarborough.

CHALLENGE OF THE CANDLEMAS CHILD

As February begins, the Christmas season ends.

Candlemas on the 2nd is the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple, 40 days after his birth. It speaks of his mission in the world to be 'alight to enlighten the Gentiles and the glory of his people Israel'.

Each new life from God is given for a purpose. Sadly - and sinfully - many do not make it even from the womb out into the world.

The Church Catechism states that 'every human life, from the moment of conception until death, is sacred because the human person has been willed for its own sake in the image and likeness of the living and holy God'.

As Christians we need to be aware that 'The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill' could reach the House of Commons this month. Our member of parliament, Robert Goodwill, assures me that 'nothing will be put into law until it has faced considerable scrutiny'. He says that he will be active, with others, 'ensuring that any proposals have the best interests of British society at their heart'. I am not sure we can leave it there.

The Archbishop of Canterbury has recently warned in a newspaper article that 'Society risks losing sight of the sanctity of life; 200,000 abortions a year tell their own story'.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor says 'Whatever our religious creed or political conviction, abortion on this scale can only be a source of distress and profound anguish for us all'.

The Methodist, Baptist and United Reform churches have also joined the debate as parliament reviews the law: 'What most Christians want to see is further moderation and understanding of the issues'.

When we pray for our politicians, as we regularly do, perhaps we also have a responsibility to be informed about their decision making on our behalf. Maybe we should let them know our views when they are involved in issues like those raised in this bill.

It appears that no Lambeth Conference has so far adopted a pro-life stance on behalf of Anglicans, but a petition is being circulated to put this right. It reads 'I, the undersigned, do hereby ask the 2008 Lambeth Conference to proclaim that the Anglican Communion affirms that human life is a precious gift from God that is to be protected at every stage, from conception to natural death; and to encourage all Anglicans to oppose abortion and euthanasia'. Completed copies should be returned to The Right Revd Henry Scriven, c/o Mrs Anna Pienaar, 6 Lakeside Close, South Norwood, London SE25 2DS. The petition can also be signed online at www.anglicansforlife.org/petition2/index.asp.