Bishop warns adoption charity

The Bishop of Lancaster has threatened to split with an adoption charity if it allows same-sex couples to become parents.

Patrick O’Donoghue, the highest-ranking Catholic in Lancashire, will sever church ties with the charity if it complies with changes to equality laws.

From January it will be illegal to discriminate against gay couples that wish to adopt.

The Bishop said the Catholic Caring Services will disobey the Church’s teachings on homosexuality if it complies with the new laws and could not call itself Catholic “unless you have fully exhausted all possible legal alternatives.”

O’Donoghue also warned that the charity could also be disqualified from any financial contributions from the Diocese.

Landmark Euthanasia Case

A terminally ill woman has launched a landmark assisted suicide case today for assurance that her husband will not be prosecuted if he helps her travel abroad to end her life.

Debbie Purdy, 45, suffers from primary progressive multiple sclerosis and wants to travel to a specialist euthanasia clinic in Switzerland but is worried Omar Puente, her husband, could be prosecuted if he helps her.

The penalty for anyone who helps facilitate suicide is up to 14 years in prison and Purdy would have to travel alone or consider going while still healthy if her husband is liable for prosecution.

So far no relative of the 100 UK citizens who have gone abroad to die has been prosecuted and Purdy is seeking clarification of the law in England and Wales.

DPP lawyers are expected to argue that there is no specific policy on assisted suicide, or a legal obligation to publish one, and a verdict is expected from the DPP in a fortnight.