A pro-abortion Irish group refuses to give back illegal political donations from an American billionaire to campaign for abortion on demand in Ireland.
Amnesty International Ireland leader Colm O’Gorman disputes the government decision that the donations are illegal, Breitbart reports.
Late last year, the Irish Standards in Public Office Commission, or Sipo, said Amnesty received about $189,000 in illegal political donations from American billionaire George Soros to push Ireland to repeal its pro-life Eighth Amendment and legalize abortion on demand. According to Sipo, the donations violate the 1997 Electoral Act, which prohibits foreign parties from donating more than €100 ($138) to Irish groups for political purposes.
“Mr. O’Gorman has repeatedly refused to obey the law, and is pretending that this is some grave matter of human rights,” said pro-life Savethe8th Communications Director John McGuirk. “It is not … This is an attempt to steal a referendum with illegal foreign cash.”
However, Amnesty is digging in its heels and refusing to give back the money at a critical time in the abortion debate.
Here’s more from Breitbart:
O’Gorman has now referred to SIPO’s demand that it return the funding to OSF as “unreasonable” and “unjust.”
“It’s absolutely clear to us that the application of the Electoral Act in this way violates international human rights law and certainly violates civil society freedoms,” he said, according to TheJournal.ie. He added that application of the law in this way would “shut down” most civil rights groups in the country.
Pro-life campaign Savethe8th said in a press release that O’Gorman is “prevaricating.”
“SIPO’s findings are clear, and nothing in Irish law prevents advocacy groups from operating,” the campaign asserts. “If the public cannot trust O’Gorman to obey the law, they cannot trust him to tell the truth.”
In May, Ireland is scheduled to vote on whether to retain its Eighth Amendment, which protects unborn babies from abortion.
If the amendment is repealed, SPUC reports the Oireachtas Committee is recommending legislation that allows abortion up to 12 weeks for any reason, and past 12 weeks if the baby is diagnosed with a terminal condition or if the mother’s health is jeopardized. However, others have suggested that late-term abortions also be allowed for unborn babies with Down syndrome and other disabilities.
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Ireland is under intense pressure to repeal its Eighth Amendment and legalize abortion on demand. Abortion activists, backed by some of the world’s richest men, are pushing their radical pro-abortion agenda on the pro-life country.
Pro-lifers estimate that the amendment has saved approximately 100,000 unborn babies’ lives from abortion in Ireland.
Soros is one of the richest men in the world. He has given hundreds of millions of dollars to pro-abortion groups, including Planned Parenthood and the ACLU.
The Irish government began asking questions of pro-abortion groups in 2016 after a leaked document from Soros’s Open Society Foundations revealed plans to push Ireland and other pro-life countries to legalize abortion on demand, the Catholic News Agency reported at the time.
The Abortion Rights Campaign, another Irish group that received €25,000 from Soros’ Open Society Foundations, agreed to return the donation.
