Archbishop Nichols, tell us: will Catholic schools provide abortion information, as the Government insists?

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Archbishop Nichols, tell us: will Catholic schools provide abortion information, as the Government insists?

By Damian Thompson Religion Last updated: February 24th, 2010

Archbishop Vincent Nichols, leader of the Catholic Church in England and Wales, has got some leading to do. Ed Balls is insisting that Catholic schools must provide information to teenage girls on where they can kill the child in their womb. And this requirement is NOT affected by the amendment to the Schools, Children and Families Bill, which was passed yesterday and the “Stockholm Syndrome” Catholic Education Service is presenting as some sort of victory for Catholic schools.

This is the relevant bit of the amendment:

Subsections (4) to (7) are not to be read as preventing the governing body or head teacher of a school within subsection (7B) from causing or allowing PSHE to be taught in a way that reflects the school’s religious character.

Yeah, big deal. Balls and his department are quite clear that all schools must provide “non-judgmental” information about procuring abortions. Will they?

Melanie Phillips has got the measure of the self-important CES. She writes:

… the broad approval of the Catholic Education Service for this deeply disturbing Bill – not to mention its unworkable amendment – demonstrates that the real divisions lie not so much between religions as within religions: between orthodox exponents of the faith who uphold fundamental moral laws and “liberals” who repudiate them.

Spot on. But I wonder whether the Catholic bishops aren’t happy for the CES to take the flak over this; everyone knows it’s run by power-worshipping Lefties. The question is: on which side of the division are the Bishops of England and Wales? I think we ought to find out before the Pope’s visit, don’t you?

Tags: abortion, Archbishop Vincent Nichols, Catholic Education Service, Children and Families Bill, Ed Balls, schools

blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/damianthompson/100027255/archbishop-nichols-tell-us-will-catholic-schools-provide-abortion-information-as-the-government-insists/
Furthermore, Damian Thompson reports more on the troubling state of the Church in England and Wales on his Telegraph blog.