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First the very good news. We have launched "UN Blog" that you can find on the homepage of http://www.c-fam.org. We did so because there are just too many stories for us to cover in two Friday Fax stories a week. So, we have gathered a panel of experts on international social policy from the US and Europe who will comment every day throughout the day on UN and EU matters as they relate to life and family. Check it out athttp://www.c-fam.org/blog/.
We report today on Italy pushing back against European encroachment on Italian sovereignty.. This important Italian effort could set important precedents going forward.
While we generally steer clear of any self-referential reporting, sometimes we cannot help it. We report also on a C-FAM initiative in relations to so called safe abortion and the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights.
Spread the word.
Yours sincerely,
Austin Ruse
President
PS Today marks the beginning of the 13th year of the Friday Fax.
Italian Supreme Court Decision Signals Sovereign Resistance to European Overreach
By Piero A. Tozzi, J.D.
(NEW YORK - C-FAM) A little-publicized decision by Italy's Constitutional Court last month may have significant implications concerning the direction of Europe, strengthening national sovereignty as a bulwark against transnational overreach by European institutions. It also signals the continued importance of national constitutions, despite the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty earlier this month. In Sentenza N. 311, the Italian Constitutional Court stated that where rulings by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) conflict with provisions of the Italian Constitution, such rulings "lack legitimacy." Read moreNew Paper Links UN Promotion of "Safe" Abortion to Maternal Deaths
By Susan Yoshihara, Ph.D.
(NEW YORK - C-FAM) A recent submission to the United Nations (UN) Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) provides evidence of the potentially fatal consequences of "safe" abortion promoted by UN agencies, and includes a list of 113 studies linking abortion dangerous complications such as pre-term birth in subsequent pregnancies. "The encouragement by [the UN Population Fund] UNFPA and [the World Health Organization] WHO of the use of mifepristone (RU-486, Mifegyne) and misoprostol (Cytotec) as 'safe' abortifacients in medically resource poor nations is unconscionable" the paper says, "and a violation of the human right to health of women." Read more
Sunday, 20 December 2009
ALL THAT IS NECESSARY FOR THE TRIUMPH OF EVIL IS FOR GOOD MEN TO DO NOTHING
One effect of this, which no-one seems to have noticed, is that the national flags of many EU-captive states, could now be declared illegal, because they bear the symbol of the cross.
Dear
Further to the article you cite below, about Italy's defence of its right to display the crucifix in school-classrooms, you may be interested to know that the Italian delegation of UKIP's "Europe-of-Freedom-and-Democracy" Group (EFD) - in the EU's consultative assembly (the EU's "parliament") - moved a resolution yesterday (Thurs, 17th Dec) to defend "the application, of the principle of subsidiarity, to the official display of religious symbols" (i.e. providing that the EU should not interfere in such matters, despite the fact that the EU now has a right to do so, because the "Charter of Fundamental Rights" - of the Council of Europe's Court of Human Rights - is now enshrined in the Treaty of Lisbon, and this Court of Human Rights recently ruled that the official display of religious symbols was a breach of the Charter.
One effect of this, which no-one seems to have noticed, is that the national flags of many EU-captive states, could now be declared illegal, because they bear the symbol of the cross.
Calculating the likely result of a vote on the EFD-resolution, we concluded that it would probably be adopted by a narrow majority, and that this would be embarrassing for the EU-élite in its quest to dis-establish Christianity and abolish national flags.
We therefore awaited the outcome with some eagerness. However, at the last moment, the Socialist, EU-supranationalist Group moved that a vote on the resolution be adjourned, and this motion was seconded by the EPP (pro-business, EU-supranationalist) Group. The motion for adjournment was then carried (in an obvious, desperate stitch-up between the big Groups) by 283 to 259 with 27 abstentions.
The "subsidiarity"-resolution will, no doubt, be tabled for a vote, when the EU-élite, and the big Groups - after "horse-trading" behind the scenes - feel confident that they will be able to defeat it. The next opportunity for a vote will be at the January-session (19th to 21st Jan. 2010)
Yours sincerely
Office of Nigel Farage, Brussels, www.ukip.org
Subject: Italy Pushes Back Against Euro Control
-December 17, 2009 | Volume 13, Number 1
Dear Colleague,
Posted by Britannia Radio at 10:20