With the election fast approaching, the need to protect human life becomes more pressing. While discussions about jobs and the economy are at the forefront for much of the election debates, with the recent ruling by the ECHR on the ABC case, there is a voice making ground in political discourse as pro-life activists speak up for the unborn.
Rebecca Roughneen of Youth Defence, said that pro-lifers throughout the country are calling for politicians to make their stand on abortion clear. Ms Roughneen said, "We'll be explaining that it's not enough for candidates to say 'I'm pro-life,' they need to give a guarantee that they won't allow abortion to be legalized."
Fine Gael has made no commitment on whether they would legislate or hold a referendum on abortion. The FG party leader Enda Kenny said that he believed the response to the recent judgement of the ECHR, should take the abortion to an Oireachtas committee to decide what to do. Kenny said, "This will not become a diversionary issue for the General Election and will be an issue for the next Oireachtas."
The Labour Party has made it very clear that they intend to legislate for abortion on demand. The party leader, Eamon Gilmore, has made his party's view the abortion issue clear and said that they intend to "legislate for the life and health of the mother " in regard to abortion - and that they would do so as as soon as possible. "The court was very clear that Ireland was out of kilter [in terms of] human rights," said Gilmore. And he said that he believed it should be legislated in the lifetime of the next Dáil.
Niamh Uí Bhriain of the Life Institute said that the Irish pro-life network was working hard to approach candidates and emphasize the importance of upholding Ireland's ban on abortion. "We've seen the Labour Party's vote slip after they declared support for the introduction of abortion but we need to press hard to ensure that voters - who tend to be understandably occupied with the economic crisis - know just how important it is to uphold our pro-life ethics at this critical time." Further, she cautioned that pro-abortion politicians would take advantage of the economic crisis to push through a "viciously anti-life agenda."
Uí Bhriain advised voters to look out for the Institute's voting guide which would be available soon. She added that the LI's newly published investigative report entitled "Join the Dots", which reveals the truth behind the push for embryo research in Ireland, would be of invaluable assistance to voters. Also, another LI publication was released last week offers an in-depth analysis of the ABC court case and what the ruling really means for Ireland. These are both important tools to help formulate tell people to read them so they know the facts when the politicians come knocking.
LINKS
- Niamh Uí Bhriain gave a presentation on the findings of Join the Dots at last year's Viva La Vida conference, which you can view here on YouTube
- Download analysis of the ABC and ECHR judgement here
- Download copy of the Join the Dots here
If you'd rather a hard copy of these documents, please contact the office at 01 873 0463
Category | Abortion : Ireland
Published By | Life House
Comments on this post:
Comments(18)
Mary Gallagher on Jan 29, 2011 3:32pm
Well done to all at Youth Defence! Keep up the good work!
Mary
Ken on Jan 29, 2011 9:59pm
I think it would be best to vote independent - but only after you find out how they stand on abortion.
amanda curran. on Jan 30, 2011 3:47pm
Join the Dots proved to be an invaluable read and where i am and always have and will be a prolifer it was good to have the facts and possible answers to questions people would pose, keep up the good work and you are always in my prayers, i have passed the book on and will continue to spread the word!
YOUTH DEFENCE on Jan 31, 2011 12:45am
Thanks Amanda, good to hear, it'll be re-issued when the new Minister for Health is decided after the election. If you need copies for friends etc, please give us a call.
Michael on Jan 31, 2011 1:13am
Thanks guys but i've already made my mind up. Giving FF first preference, FG second, likely either greens or independents 3, with Labour right at the bottom and Sinn Fein just above, with other leftist groups in between However the economy will be my first priority this election season, and that is final.
Maria on Jan 31, 2011 6:59pm
John, are you having a laugh, FF has been the most visciously anti life party. THEY HAVE KILLED MORE BABIES THOROUGH ABORTION THAN ANY OTHER PARTY. X case, C Case D case children in State care being brought to England to have their babies killed. The crises pregnancy agency promoting abortion as positive option. ALL ON FIANNA FAIL WATCH. Lets not forget that a labour councillor who spoke out against the killing in the C case (Tommy Cullen). Only Leo Varadkar of FG has declared opposition to abortion in al circumstances. Not even Mary Hanafin has done that.
As for the economy you must definitely be joking. FF sacrificed the Irish tax payer to save the banks, not because they felt it was the correct thing to do, but because Jean Claude Trichet told them to. It is beyond doubt that that Euro fanatic FG and Labour would have done the same. And were saddled with extortionate IMF/EU bailout. Oh that we were as brave as Iceland and told the bondholders to shove it. They are out of recession now, and we are up the proverbial without a paddle with no end in sight.
Anonymous on Feb 1, 2011 8:09pm
Really will need to discourage people from voting for Labour especially in the election, i.e there obvious wish to liberalize our abortion law to no end. Voting for the other two main parties should not concern us as much. But eating into that 22% support that Labour has is crucial, so as to minimize their power when they go into government with Fine Gael. Even voting Sinn Fein over Labour would in fact be a better option (for example Pearse Doherty has said he is committed to oppose both abortion and embryonic research) .
Maria on Feb 2, 2011 12:32am
Thanks anonymous,Iwasn't aware that Mr. Doherty had said that. Good to know.
Michael on Feb 2, 2011 3:24pm
My name is Michael Maria not John. You know that Fianna Fail has said that they oppose legalizing abortion here, to say that they have 'killed' many babies here, is a joke, and extreme. Plus we voted in referendum to allow women to travel to England, how are Fianna Fail gulity of that when we the people voted by a majority to allow it, your having me on! The economic argument in defence of what Fianna Fail did was that if they did allow the banks to fail we would have been in a far worse position, and I absolutely believe that. And last you obviously are not a fan of the EU, but I have always supported or membership and on the whole see it as far more of a positive then a negative. Again though like everyone else in this country people have the right to vote for whoever they want, and that's exactly what you should do, becasue it's certainly what I'm going to do, with good intention might I add.
Maria on Feb 2, 2011 7:47pm
First off ,sorry for the name mix up. It matters not a jot what Fianna Fail SAID about abortion, the fact is that the State under Fianna Fail used tax payer money to bring children in their care to England to have their babies killed.(that is what abortion is) When the irish people voted not to prohibbit a citizen to travel to another country to avail of services(the subsection does not even mention abortion) we did NOT give our imprimator to the State to organise the abortion or our use our tax money to fund it! As for being worse off had allowed the banks to fail can you evidence for your "belief"? Iceland provides the evidence to the contrary. You are correct that everyone has the right to vote. But as with all rights this comes with responsibility. And to this end you must vote with more than "good intention" .
Emma on Feb 3, 2011 10:07am
I think we should vote for whoever says they will ban abortion, but we should try to vote independent too. I understand that people feel anyone but labour and that's why they'd vote FF or FG but isn't that what FF and FG rely on?
neither party has a good pro-life record and M Martin voted to use taxpayer funding for embryonic stem cell research. He also said he was open to it being carried out in ireland.
Manus on Feb 3, 2011 2:22pm
Enda Kenny has refused to rule out legislating for abortion. He'll get an Oireachtas Committee to push it.
When George Bush cut US aid to 3rd world groups involed in abortion, our government, (Conor Lenihan), increased funding to those groups.
Labour just admit their murderous intent!
Michael on Feb 3, 2011 2:57pm
Well by that logic, then it doesn't matter a jot what Labour said either if that's the case. Fianna Fail have said that they do not support legalizing abortion, how does that not matter! I've voted Fianna Fail all my life, and i'm not going to stop now.Also when people voted i'm sure many of them understood that 'services' included traveling to avail of an abortion. What evidence do Fine Gael or Labour have to dispute what Fianna Fail said, that if we didn't bail out the banks we'd be in a better position. Iceland want to join the EU too, they see the benifits, as we did in 1973 by voting Yes.
Voting with good intention is the way I always vote, for the good of my children.
Maria on Feb 3, 2011 3:43pm
The logic is this. It does not matter what they SAY, it matters what they DO. By their actions you will know them. By their actions FF have shown themselves to be anti life party through the measures I have already outlined. It was obvious from the outset that you are Fianna Failler and no matter what they did no matter how bad you would vote for them. Even if people did understand "services" to mean abortion where did we give our permission to the State to organise and fund these abortions? I am asking YOU to provide me with evidence that we would be worse of if we allowed the banks to fail. Iceland is evidence that we would be better off had we done so. Good intentions are not enough when voting. You must be well informed above all else. Remember it"s not Just your children who will be effected by your vote everyone else's including mine will suffer also.
Manus on Feb 3, 2011 4:34pm
Michael, You don't seem to know your Icelandic politics.
The political elite may want to join the EU. Elites usually do!
The Icelandic people however have a lot more Kop-on than to make that stupid mistake.
You've voted FF all your life. What would they have to do to you for you to vote otherwise?
joseph K on Feb 3, 2011 8:25pm
I'm definitely only voting for Independents or maybe the Christian Party. You can't trust a word the others say - and FF need a good drubbing, they are trickys.
Michael on Feb 4, 2011 12:51pm
I'd consider giving FG my first preference, if they had a very good chance of going it alone without Labour. Since that is unlikely i'm much more likely to vote FF, even after all you have said. The only reason i'd consider not voting for FF is if they ended up like Labour, or if they decided to increase income taxes by a huge amount, or if they became Eurosceptic like Sinn fein.
Maybe it's only the elites in Iceland who want to join, i don't know. But elites here and the majority of the Irish people support our membership, and that's all that matters. Those who have joined the EU especially from Eastern European countries have benifited greatly from joining.
I'll be voting again with good intentions, and with a clear conscience. That's all that matters to me.
Manus on Feb 4, 2011 5:01pm
Michael
Your first paragraph would make sense if we did not have a transferable vote. I can understand putting FF above Labour on your ballot-paper. But you must bear in mind that FF are not pro-life. They have killed more unborn babies than any other group of politicians, including Labour.
Give your number 1 to the best candidate & transfer all the way down. That's the best way of keeping out the killers.
On the EU, we have not had a referendum on membership since 1972. So your comment on membership is moot.
However I don't think that simply voting a certain way because you believe a majority support that view is sensible. You should support what is right and oppose what is wrong, no matter what!
Vote, not only with good intensions & a clear conscience, that conscience must be informed.
When you say "that's all that matters to me" aren't you forgetting that the result matters to everyone, not just you?