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“Proving tricky”

“Proving tricky”

Stories of jurisdictions that have tried and failed to introduce legislation against so-called conversion therapy

Westminster has been trying to produce a legislative ‘ban’ on conversion therapy for over five years. If what is meant by conversion therapy is verbal or physical abuse, then there is already a ban. The problem is that there is no agreed definition. Activists routinely conflate abuses that are criminal under existing law with legitimate, everyday activities which cannot be criminalised, such as conversations between parents and children about sexuality or gender identity. It has proven extremely difficult.

Assisted suicide

Assisted suicide

Campaigners for assisted suicide are stepping up their efforts. There are legislative proposals at both Westminster and Holyrood to enable terminally ill adults to get help to kill themselves.

The little book of non-violent extremists (updated)

The little book of non-violent extremists (updated)

This little booklet makes the big point that some non-violent ‘extremists’ turn out to be heroic people of global significance. Successive UK governments have sought to confront non-violent extremism. But without a clear, precise and well-understood definition this is a dangerous road to go down. Our little list of heroes could easily have been accused of breaching modern ‘non-violent extremism’ thresholds.

Abortion (Ireland)

Abortion (Ireland)

During the campaign to repeal Ireland’s protections for the unborn, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar pledged that abortion would become “safe, legal and rare”. Yet in the years since the 2018 repeal of the eighth amendment, over 28,000 abortions have already been carried out.