The LoveBoth campaign has highlighted the fact that since January, Health Minister Simon Harris has tweeted or retweeted on the Eighth Amendment 130 times* and just once on the trolley crisis.
Commenting on these extraordinary figures, LoveBoth spokesperson Geraldine Martin said:
“For the first time, we have heard reports that 2,400 children are suffering on hospital trolleys while they wait for treatment. It is widely accepted that this is a national crisis. Yet the Minister for Health is not focussing on healthcare at all but is distracted from his real job as he campaigns for abortion on demand. A cursory check of his comments since January show that he has commented on the Eighth Amendment 4 times as often as he has commented on hospital trolleys. Even more significant is the fact that during the same period, he has only tweeted once on the trolley crisis but has tweeted or retweeted pro-repeal items 130 times.
“We are now hearing that Minister Harris intends to spend the next six weeks spearheading the campaign to remove the Eighth Amendment. The fact that Minister Harris has seen fit to comment around 4 times as often about abortion as he has about trolleys says a lot about where his priorities lie. His proposal to introduce abortion on demand has nothing to do with healthcare yet he is intending to devote the vast majority of his time to pushing for repeal. There will be many people who, on hearing this, will wonder why this Minister is focussing so much on abortion on demand instead of getting to grips with the worst hospital trolley crisis this country has ever seen.”