These articles were first published in our June edition of the newspaper, click here for more.
A law professor, granted £500,000 of taxpayers’ money to write a biographical study on the 1967 Abortion Act, suggested in late April that midwives should carry out abortions.
Sally Sheldon, a professor at the University of Kent, claims that the Act has been misinterpreted in saying that only doctors could perform surgical abortions. She says that allowing nurses and midwives to perform abortions would save the NHS money and speed up services.
A social worker who advised a couple against baptising their baby on the grounds it would hinder chances of adoption was criticised by a family court judge in April.
Judge Richard Scarratt said the comment was ‘regrettable’ and called on Kent County Council (KCC) to launch an inquiry into the incident. KCC apologised, but the judge found the apology to be ‘too late and inadequate’. Social services had originally decided that the 15-month-old boy should be adopted, but agreed he could live with a relative instead.
On 25 April the High Court granted Felix Ngole permission for a judicial review of the decision to expel him from the University of Sheffield, after he expressed the Christian view of marriage and sexuality during a Facebook discussion.
His case was dismissed at every stage of the University internal appeals procedure, and his written arguments were dismissed by a Deputy High Court Judge in March 2017.
Bible Society has released a resource to help English Literature students with the texts they are studying, it was reported in April.
The website helps students make connections between literature and its cultural context, and includes background information on biblical and literary allusions. Crossref-it is a collaborative project between Bible Society, The Stapleford Centre, and the Centre for the Study of Christianity and Culture at the University of York.
A West London pro-life counselling service had a hostile petition set up against it from the UK’s largest abortion provider, it was reported in April.
Life were given £250,000 from the government via the tampon tax. The British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS) set up a petition to get the decision reversed and queried the decision of the government. The government said it would review the situation to ensure Life aligns 100% with the aims of the fund.
A controversial campaign calling for pro-LGBT education throughout Scottish schools received official backing in April.
The Scottish Government pledged to support the Time for Inclusive Education (TIE) campaign, which advocates compulsory teaching on sexuality, transsexualism and gender identity, as well as pro-LGBT sexual health education. A working group will be established to discuss the aims of the campaign and hear recommendations from Stonewall Scotland and LGBT Youth Scotland.
68 MSPs signed a pledge supporting TIE. Any legislation put forward is likely to be passed [if the composition of the Scottish parliament remains similar after 8 June – Editor]. Children would receive compulsory teaching on the issues above, and topics including: homophobia, biphobia and transphobia; the Equal Rights Movement, Stonewall and the Gay Liberation Movement.
South of the border, at its annual conference in April, NUT delegates passed a motion calling for compulsory teaching of LGBT issues throughout schools, including nurseries.