- Blog
- News
- Who We Are
- Projects
- Campaigns
- Publications
- History
PR: Media Coverage of Abortion Figures
25.05.1998
Youth Defence are more than a little surprised at the media coverage being given to figures released today claiming than there is again an increase in the numbers of Irish women travelling to England for abortions. This story is dredged up regularly in the course of the abortion debate and is clearly based on the sliding scale of the Irish Family Planning Associations need for a news item to justify abortion in Ireland and nothing whatever to do with the real figure.
It is incredible that any organisation would be taken seriously on a figure claiming than there is an increase in the number of abortions when in the same breath they go on to claim that these figures are underestimated. The I.F.P.A. should at least try to be clear in their own heads as to whetherthey believe in the accuracy of the figures before lecturing the Irish people on the need for abortion which the reports allegedly reveal.
Youth Defence have no doubt whatever that the figures are inaccurate and a gross exaggeration of the true number. The statistics for abortion are compiled using information provided by the abortion clinics themselves who have a financial interest in campaigning for the legislation and the international experience has shown that before such legislation they make wild claims concerning numbers in order to justify the unjustifiable. In that regard Youth Defence are currently formulating a research paper, "The Big Lie", which proves conclusively that these abortion figures are politically motivated and in fact an attempt at deceiving the public. This paper will be published shortly and all the preliminary indications are that the rate of exaggeration is about ten to one.
However all abortions, no matter how few, are tragedies insofar as each one is the torture to death of an unborn child. We would have to question fundamentally the logic which suggests that if tragedy is widespread it ought to be tolerated, and that if Irish abortions are happening in England then that somehow justifies abortion in Ireland. Legalised abortion is no less heinous than the legalisation of any other method of murder which surely would not take place simply because murders occur regardless of the law.
Youth Defence would again draw attention to the fact that taxpayers money is being used to fund the I.F.P.A., which apart from profitting by abortion refferral, functions as a pro-abortion advocacy group. Todays figures and the media hype surrounding them do reveal however the need to clarify the position on abortion as it is abundantly clear thaty the pro-abortion movement thrives on confusion and semi-acuracy and we would re-iterate the right of the Irish people to be consulted on an unambigous referendum prohibit abortion in the words we have suggested, "No law shall be enacted, nor shall any provision of this Constitution be interpreted, to render induced abortion, or the procurement of induced abortion, lawful in the State."
End
