Catholic Union Deputy Director, James Somerville-Meikle, writes:
The chaos in Parliament continues to dominate the headlines, but there have also been a number of sizeable policy announcements this week.
One of those is the introduction of “baby loss certificates” for women who have endured miscarriages. This seems like a good initiative from the Department for Health and Social Care and will no doubt help some parents come to terms with their loss.
It is striking that this week has also seen more MPs add their names to an amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill to “decriminalise” abortion – removing some of the last remaining safeguards in place for babies in the womb.
There is a clear contradiction here. The loss of a baby cannot be something which the Health Secretary describes as a “hugely traumatic event” and yet also something which Parliament wants to encourage.
This is far from the only case of such a contradiction. Throughout the pandemic, the stated aim of the Government’s strategy was to “save lives” and yet now we see parliamentarians clamouring to make assisted suicide lawful. Bishop John Sherrington wrote in the Universe last week about the dangers of going down this path.
The need for a clear moral framework, which the Church provides, is badly needed. Without it, there may be more chaos to come.