News

 euthanasia 800

Momentum for the legalised euthanasia of patients by their doctors is increasing in several Australian jurisdictions.

In Victoria the ALP government is finalising details for lawful euthanasia that is scheduled to commence in mid-2019, despite a valiant attempt by the pro-life movement prior to last November’s state election.

In Queensland - with appalling temerity and a total denial of parental responsibility - the ALP government is asking the community whether voluntary euthanasia should be available to people aged under eighteen years of age!

The Health, Communities, Disability Services and Domestic and Family Violence Committee recently released an issues paper as part of its inquiry into aged and palliative care, end-of-life and voluntary assisted dying. FamilyVoice supporters with medical and related expertise are urged to contribute a submission to the inquiry which closes on 15 April.

In South Australia a proposal for legalised euthanasia is expected to be introduced into the upper house of State Parliament, sponsored by the Greens party. In NSW a bill is expected after the forthcoming state election.

In Tasmania the Parliament could enact voluntary euthanasia laws by the end of the year, as Liberal Premier Will Hodgman may be shifting his position.

In Western Australia the ALP government is working towards legalising euthanasia, with parliamentary debate expected in the second half of the year.

Both major parties have granted MPs in the West a conscience vote on the issue. However, it remains to be seen whether political affiliation in the ALP-dominated lower house will influence government MPs to follow the party’s line.

FamilyVoice WA Director Darryl Budge is urging pro-life medical people especially to contact members of that chamber (the Legislative Council) and share details as to why euthanasia must be rejected as occurred in 2010.

“Since the government does not hold sway over the upper house, that may be the only place to defeat the bill,” he said.

“In partnership with the Coalition for the Defence of Human Life, FamilyVoice WA is planning peaceful public gatherings later this year to stand against the killing of vulnerable patients,” he added.

The Coalition will call for world-class palliative care to provide compassionate physical, social and spiritual care.

“It is not acceptable that WA has the least publicly-funded palliative care beds per capita in the country,” Darryl Budge said.

“We reject euthanasia and assisted suicide as a deep failure of our social duty to care for the infirm, disabled and elderly. Legalised medical killing discards those at greatest need of care and compassion.

1550692371805

Trans-sexual activists in New Zealand are targeting a chocolate company for failing to legitimize the flawed concept of gender fluidity in its products.

Enlivened LGBT activists and social justice warriors recently attacked chocolate maker Whittakers for daring to produce blue and pink chocolates. 

According to the New Zealand website Stuff, the product is “a take on baby gender reveal parties, which have become popular in New Zealand and worldwide.”

Auckland University of Technology Psychology senior lecturer Pani Farvid claimed the chocolate was harmful:

We, in academia, are working really hard to dispel the gender binary model as we know there are more than two genders and that ascribing blue and pink to boys and girls is stereotypical.

People can present as feminine or masculine and have the matching genitals or not. People who don't fit into pink or blue boxes are sadly excluded from this campaign.

In reality, gender is binary, as Michelle Cretella, Vice President of the American College of Pediatricians, has stated:

Human sexuality is binary – it’s implicit, it’s in every cell of our bodies. Sex is not assigned to people.  It declares itself.

When it comes to gender, the science is settled.

53117794 291707501511269 3443679338841505792 n

By Charles Newington
 
Many Christian people across Australia are very happy that crowds decided to follow Christ at the Franklin Graham events. They are not alone. Jesus said the angels rejoice whenever a person turns to God (Luke 15:10).
 
But not everyone is happy. A clergy friend of mine commented that some in his contact group were not happy because Franklin Graham is openly in agreement with the Bible’s position on sexual behaviour and heterosexual marriage. This was reason enough for them not to attend.
 
Franklin has for many years actively engaged in charitable work among the poor through charities like Samaritan’s Purse – providing practical care for people in real need. He is a good example of someone who understands the Christian message is not only the transforming experience of personal faith in Jesus. It is many things including the practical care and help of people in need, and the respectful but direct public commentary on social and political issues. 
 
Franklin Graham raised questions about right and wrong – not to judge people but to give them an opportunity for reflection about just how far they may have wandered from the straight and narrow road that leads to eternal life.
 
Franklin made it clear when he invited people to respond – that they were not coming to him, but to Jesus who alone can rescue us from what controls us and alienates us from God and each other. He helped people to see they were responding to Jesus himself and not just accepting a religious idea.
 
Often people assume that what’s happening is some form of psychological persuasion because people are very vulnerable to feelings of guilt, shame, loneliness and fragility. Christ does address these feelings but goes deeper to the core issue – reconciling us to God. Once we know that Christ has reconciled us to God once for all, the weights and worries fall off. We feel at peace because we are at peace with God - through Jesus.
 
Thank you Franklin Graham.

call to action 800

By Darryl Budge, WA Director

There is a Bill being debated in the WA Parliament upper house that will allow male same-sex couples and single men access to surrogacy to become parents. 

This Bill, called the Human Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Legislation Amendment Bill 2018, has already been passed the Legislative Assembly and is now in the Legislative Council.

The bill was briefly debated and adjourned on February 14 and debate may resume on Tuesday, the 18th.


Now is the time to act! Please write and encourage others to write to your 6 MLC’s (Members of the Legislative Council) to let them know that children deserve a mother.

Our action website is down for maintenance, so I have provided a link to a helpful email list of every upper house member. Click on each name for their office phone number.


If you live in the country, we urge you to contact your National party member in the Legislative Council. Please ask them to vote against Bill because it is against the best interests of children to allow single men to access surrogacy.

Here are some further points you can share about this unsafe Bill:

  • There are no safeguards requiring criminal record and child protection checks at the time of application.
  • Surrogacy heralds the “choice” of the donor mother, but the baby has no choice except to be separated from their birth mother.
  • Surrogacy constitutes a human rights violation of the women and children involved. It commodifies children and exploits women.
  • Government data shows no single female has applied for surrogacy in WA since legalised in 2008.  Instead of allowing surrogacy for single men, surrogacy for single people should be removed.
  • Western Australia has 5000 children in state care and an desperate shortage of foster carers. The government should urgently resolve this desperate situation instead of wasting resources on these social experiments.

How to pray

  • We ask for prayer that the HRT Bill is defeated.
  • But if not, we can pray that the Bill will be at least amended to require all applicants for surrogacy to submit to a criminal record and child protection order check, as is the case in Victoria.

If you would like more information on this issue, see our earlier article: https://familyvoice.org.au/news/facts-about-surrogacy

 israel folau 800

The athletic superstar has had his freedom of religion and speech restricted in a new four year rugby deal.

Israel Folau – who has played AFL, Rugby League and Rugby Union – has come under attack from cultural Marxists in recent years for his refusal to bow to LGBT ideology, instead using his huge public profile to promote a Christian view of human sexuality and family.

With great love i wanted to share this video in the hope that people watch it and think about it. Jesus is coming back soon and he wants us to turn to him through repentance and baptism in the name of Jesus Christ (Acts 2:38) please don't harden your heart https://t.co/PtDoPCQDco

— Israel Folau (@IzzyFolau) 7 May 2018

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that tougher restrictions have been placed on what Folau can and can’t say as part of his new four year deal with Rugby Australia:

A private donor who funded a portion of his previous deal is no longer on board, there are social media clauses in his new contract, and he will pop up more than ever before at junior rugby camps and fan days, as RA learns to maximise his exposure among children and teenagers and minimise it among the game's largely secular, progressive and older fan base.

Commenting on his past year, Folau said it has been a “roller-coaster” off the field:

But, to be quite honest, it might sound a bit crazy, but I kind of really enjoyed what was happening off the field. Not that it happened on purpose, but my identity is based around my faith in God. And I truly believe that from deep down inside, what was happening off the field, even though it was challenging and it was hard, it was actually moulding me into the person [I am] ... and taught me a lot of things that I needed to learn, and I’m still learning now.