Northwest MEPs call on Catholic church to ban ‘ALIVE’ magazine (10th Sept 2009)
September 10, 2009 at 9:56 am 1 comment
Irish MEPs have asked the Catholic authorities to prohibit the distribution of the ‘Alive’ magazine from church porches across the country. It comes after the magazine included an advert by a group called ‘Éire go Brách’, which claims the Lisbon Treaty would allow the EU to detain children of alcoholics or people with mental illness. The advert reads, ‘The EU could seize elderly people’s savings and homes and can take children off people who suffer from mild forms of alcoholism or depression.’
North west MEPs Jim Higgins and Marian Harkin have accused those behind the ad of ‘gross, disgraceful and scurrilous scaremongering’ about the Lisbon Treaty. Ms Harkin said she had received calls from carers concerned that the treaty would mean children being taken into care. Mr Higgins said that contrary to what the advert claimed, Lisbon would strengthen the rights of the elderly and other vulnerable groups.
MEP Mairead McGuinness challenged the Catholic church to ‘take on’ groups that try to spread fear and untruths about Lisbon in its name.
A spokesperson for the monthly magazine ‘Alive’, which has a circulation of 359,000, refused to comment on the claims made in the advertisement.
The MEPs were speaking at a special event in Brussels organised by the Europe for Ireland group, encouraging ex-pats to support the Lisbon Treaty.
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Eire go Brach Campaign | September 10, 2009 at 11:36 am
The Éire go Brách Campaign condemns the European Union and Pro Treaty groups in Ireland, for attempting to criminalize people who suffer with Mental Illness and Alcoholism through the Lisbon Treaty.
In the Charter of Fundamental Rights which is legally binding on all member states, Article 6 (e) (Freedoms) states ‘the lawful detention of persons for the prevention of the spreading of infectious diseases, of persons of UNSOUND MIND (Mental Illness, Autism, Alzheimer’s, Special Needs), ALCOHOLICS, Drug Addicts or Vagrants (Homeless)’.
Having legislation like this enshrined in a Constitutional Amendment entails the loss of Natural Liberty for a huge section of Irish society, with unknown long term repercussions.
If these vulnerable people are made a Ward of Court through EU legislation, their fate can be determined by Social Workers, State Institutions, Politicians and those in the Medical Profession.
This legislation can potentially stigmatise a huge section of Irish society, where the European Union can now legislate that vulnerable people are unfit parents, a danger to themselves or society, and cannot manage their own personal affairs.
In the interest of transparency and openness the Éire go Brách Campaign calls on the Referendum Commission to 1. Furnish every household with a copy of the Consolidated Version of the Treaty (IIEA) and 2. Publish the entire Legal Directive associated with Article 6 (e) of the Charter of Fundamental Rights; so anyone who will be affected by this legislation, can see for themselves the dangers it entails.
One only needs to look at the parallel legislation in the Netherlands where this is already in place.
The Remmelink Report 1990/1995 by the Dutch Government found that 10,000 people die yearly in Dutch hospitals through voluntary and involuntary Euthanasia.
Of these only 3,000 are recorded officially. Dutch physicians by ‘merely consulting with a colleague can end the life of a patient if they believe they have unbearable suffering, have mental illness/discomfort, or are psychologically distressed’.
Where does this legislation leave Irish people who suffer from Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s disease or have other forms of Mental Illness, and are put in State Institutions? The duty of the state is to attend to the welfare of the vulnerable, not to target them unfairly because they are vulnerable.
13% of all patients in the Netherlands are not even consulted about the termination of their lives, while the Government Report suggested 45% of families were totally unaware of the practice, believing their relatives had died of natural causes.
Locking up people simply because they suffer from depression, homelessness, or alcoholism, is not a progression but a dangerous step back into Communist Russia or Nazi Germany.
It is a law that discriminates against the most vulnerable in society, and has nothing to do with the functioning of the European Union, the creation of Jobs, or the security of Irish citizens.
Éire go Brách believes Marian Harkin MEP would be far better employed ensuring the full content of Article 6 including explanations are brought to the attention of the people. She should refrain from concealing the very important information contained within the explanations, made necessary, as the Treaty is written in an “unreadable” text.
Given the fact Marian Harkin MEP wants to suppress information by calling on the Bishops of Ireland to remove our advert from churches, will she also demand the Bishops conceal the fact that in Europe 2.2 million children die in Abortion Clinics every year, and that the Committee on Equal Opportunities is legislating for these Abortions to be funded with EU Taxes?
On reading the Consolidated Version of the Treaty, there are many reasons for rejecting this treaty. This is one of the most dangerous.