Comments From Tánaiste Joan Burton Show Labor Party Would Repeal Pro-Life 8th Amendment

International   |   Pro Life Campaign   |   Sep 28, 2015   |   3:14PM   |   Dublin, Ireland

Over the weekend Tánaiste Joan Burton stated that the 8th Amendment to the Constitution “cannot be changed soon enough” and that if part of the next government, the Labour Party will ensure a referendum is held to dismantle or repeal it. The Pro Life Campaign has said the Tánaiste’s comments “are just a knee-jerk reaction to appease extreme elements within the Labour Party who are determined to strip away all remaining legal protection from the unborn.”

Responding to the Tánaiste’s weekend remarks, Pro Life Campaign spokesperson Sinéad Slattery said:

“The Tánaiste has a habit of reciting the speaking points of the pro-choice movement whenever she is questioned on abortion. It’s so easy to attack the 8th Amendment and call for wider access to abortion while dodging at all cost any discussion of the negative effects of abortion for women or the reality of what abortion entails for the innocent unborn child.

“We only have to look at the experience of countries like England to see that there is no such thing as ‘restrictive abortion’ like the people pushing for repeal of the 8th Amendment would have us believe. Those who introduced the 1967 Abortion Act in Britain, like Lord Steele, have admitted they could never have foreseen the implications of the Act where, to cite just one example, over 90% of all babies diagnosed with Down Syndrome are aborted. The right to life is not some abstract or peculiar issue. It is the defining human rights issue of our time. It’s very troubling that the Tánaiste’s latest contribution to the debate is nothing more than a knee-jerk reaction to appease extreme elements within her own party who are determined to strip away all remaining legal protection from the unborn.”

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Ms Slattery said: “There is nothing ‘humane’ or ‘compassionate’ about the Labour Party stance on abortion. Abortion targets the voiceless, weakest and most vulnerable members of society. It should be an anathema to the Labour Party and everything it claims to stand for.”

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