British Parliament MPs File Motion to Force Northern Ireland to Legalize Abortion
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
October 31, 2008
London, England (LifeNews.com) — Thirteen members of the British parliament have filed a motion saying that the 1967 law that legalizes abortion in the rest of the U.K. should be extended to Northern Ireland. Labour Party MP Diane Abbott is leading the effort in the House of Commons to force abortion on the region.
The measure also calls on the taxpayer-funded National Health Service to pay for the abortions of Northern Ireland women who travel to England for them.
A previous attempt to force abortion on Northern Ireland failed as MPs were prevented from adding an amendment to do so to the pro-cloning HFE bill.
Bernadette Smyth, the head of the NI pro-life group Precious Life told LifeNews.com she thinks the latest move by Abbot and her supporters is nothing more than a "publicity stunt."
The pro-life group has called on the MP who tabled the motion to "butt out and stop interfering" in Northern Ireland’s protection of unborn children.
Smyth said, "This motion must be dismissed out of hand for what it really is – a publicity stunt. Thousands of early day motions are tabled during every session of Parliament with virtually no prospect of ever being debated."
"This is simply Diane Abbott’s effort to save face after the defeat of her plans to extend the 1967 Abortion Act to Northern Ireland," Smyth said.
Smyth told LifeNews.com that the actions of local residents show her part of Great Britain does not want abortion there.
"Less than two weeks ago, thousands of people attended our Rally For Life at Stormont to stand united with our politicians and churches in opposing abortion," she said. "Northern Ireland has sent out a clear message that we do not want abortion imposed on us from Westminster. We want our unborn children and their mothers protected from abortion."
In October 2007, the Northern Ireland Assembly unanimously passed a motion opposing the legalization of abortion in the province.
This year in May, and again in October, the leaders of the four main political parties in Northern Ireland sent a joint letter to all Westminster MPs, stating the strong opposition across the community to any move to impose abortion on the province, and stating that the law on abortion in Northern Ireland should be a matter for the Assembly only.
Related web sites:
Precious Life – https://www.preciouslife.com
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