- Blog
- News
- Who We Are
- Projects
- Campaigns
- Publications
- History
PR: YD launch new pro-life newspaper adverts
02.06.2010
A striking new pro-life advertisement appears in Irish newspapers this week spelling out the truth that “Abortion never saves a mother’s life, it just kills a baby”.
The advert is part of a new awareness campaign jointly sponsored by Youth Defence and the Life Institute which aims to set the record straight by explaining that abortion is never medically necessary.
Life Institute spokesman Dr Seán Ó Domhnaill said that the past twelve months had seen an increase in “a particularly obnoxious piece of misinformation which attempts to frighten women into believing that a ban on abortion would endanger their lives.”
Dr Ó Domhnaill said that it was “dishonest in the extreme of abortion campaigners to pretend that treatments for conditions such as cancer or ectopic pregnancy are abortion, when the truth is that they are no such thing, and this fact has long been recognized by medical experts”.
Youth Defence spokesman Rebecca Roughneen said that the adverts were an essential part of a campaign undertaken to explain that all medical treatments could be undertaken when necessary during pregnancy, and to clear up any confusion. “These adverts spell out the truth – and bring real-life stories to the attention of the public so that they can understand that abortion campaigners are not only being dishonest, they are hurting mothers who have tragically lost their children,” she said.
The adverts also highlight the evidence of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists - the doctors who care for expectant mothers. As the Institute’s then Chairman, Prof John Bonner, told a Dáil Committee in 2001: “It would never cross an obstetrician’s mind that intervening in a case of pre-eclampsia, cancer of the cervix or ectopic pregnancy is abortion. They are not abortion as far as the professional is concerned, these are medical treatments that are essential to save the life of the mother.”
The striking advert is being complemented by the nationwide distribution of the Set the Record Straight leaflets campaign and by a series of public events. Fundraising will continue so that the adverts can run in additional publications during the summer.
“This essential campaign is cutting through the confusion - and laying the truth bare,” said Dr Seán Ó Domhnaill. “The debate on abortion needs clarity and honesty if we are to best serve mothers and babies."
End
