Although polling data and massive public rallies show the Irish people are opposed, the Ireland Parliament today took the first step to legalize some abortions with a 138-24 to allow abortions in rare cases.
The Pro Life Campaign said it is disappointed at the result of this evening’s Second Stage vote on abortion in the Dáil but welcomed the fact that an initial four Fine Gael TDs voted against the bill.
The Pro Life Campaign has also challenged the Minister for Health to a public debate on the contents of the bill saying it is “unbelievable” that he has never debated its contents live on air with opponents of the bill.
Pro Life Campaign spokesperson Cora Sherlock said: “While we are disappointed at this evening’s vote, we congratulate the TDs who voted against the bill, particularly those who were prepared to defy their party whip and vote with their conscience. We are confident that many more TDs will join them over the coming days in opposing the bill.”
Sherlock added: “It is cruel and unjust the way TDs with conscientious objections are being pressured and bullied to tow the party line. The Minister for Health has never debated the proposed legislation live on air with opponents of the bill. This is unbelievable given the seriousness of the issue. The Government has a duty to give the public an opportunity to hear the bill debated properly. The Pro Life Campaign challenges the Minister for Health to a public debate on the contents of the bill and what it would mean in practice, before it reaches the final stage in the Dáil.”
Fr. Shenan Boquet of Human Life Intentional complained that the abortion bill is being pushed by politicians who promised not to do what they are now doing and said the bill is wrongly being sold as necessary to save the lives of pregnant women who are suicidal, even though so far none of the psychiatrists called to testify at the Irish hearings can say under oath that abortion was needed to save the life of a suicidal woman.
He said many studies have shown that women who have had abortions are much more likely to commit suicide than women who have not had them.
Priscilla Coleman, an American professor and researcher, says “Overall, women with an abortion history experience an 81% increased risk for mental health problems. The results showed that the level of increased risk associated with abortion varies from 34% to 230% depending on the nature of the outcome. Separate effects were calculated based on the type of mental health outcome with the results revealing the following: the increased risk for anxiety disorders was 34%; for depression it was 37%; for alcohol use/abuse it was 110%, for marijuana use/abuse it was 220%, and for suicide behaviors it was 155%.”
Boquet responds: “So the proposed bill, called the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill, isn’t actually designed to protect a single life during pregnancy. It is designed to destroy life. As some Irish politicians who support the bill have admitted, it is only intended as the opening to abortion on demand. This is obvious, of course, but still it helps when pro-abortion pols admit it. It is possible that all a woman will have to do if this bill becomes law is claim – after being coached by counselors or nursing staff on what to say — that she is considering suicide, and she can therefore bypass all restrictions on abortion, at any point in her pregnancy.”
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“All this, supposedly to protect the lives of pregnant women, in a nation whose maternal mortality rates are among the very lowest–that is, the best — in the world,” he noted. “These people think that abortion, despite truckloads of evidence to the contrary, is a boon for women’s health, and that it is a human right.”
A new Amárach opinion poll has revealed that a clear majority of people are opposed to abortion as a response to a suicide threat.
The poll, commissioned by the Pro Life Campaign, asked respondents to scale their support or opposition to abortion “if it were clearly shown that abortion is not a suitable treatment for a pregnant woman with suicidal feelings”. Of those who expressed an opinion, 60% said they would be ‘very unlikely’ or ‘unlikely’ to support abortion on such grounds. Just 40% of respondents said they would be ‘very likely’ or ‘likely’ to support abortion in those cases.
