Yesterday’s abortion vote is appalling but public will have final say on Eighth Amendment, says PLC – TheLiberal.ie – Our News, Your Views

Yesterday’s abortion vote is appalling but public will have final say on Eighth Amendment, says PLC




The Pro Life Campaign has said today’s vote for abortion by the Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment is “a total betrayal of women and their unborn babies and represents a tragic drift backwards for society rather than a step forward. Anyone who tries to suggest that today’s vote is not for abortion on demand is telling a lie.”

The PLC was commenting after the committee voted to recommend abortion on wide-ranging grounds, up to 12 weeks on request and up to birth on health grounds that are not and cannot be defined.

Speaking on behalf of the Pro Life Campaign, Cora Sherlock said: “The decision to opt for a time limit of 12 weeks on request was plucked from thin air. It reveals a frightening disregard for the right to life of the most innocent and defenceless members of society, namely unborn babies. Also, the vote in favour of abortion on physical and mental health grounds is even more radical than abortion laws in other countries like England, where 1 in 5 pregnancies now ends in abortion.

Commenting on the extreme nature of today’s vote, Ms Sherlock said:

“When any group is handed the power to decide who’s in and who’s out, it follows that they feel they have permission to conclude that no unborn babies are deserving of any protections under the law. And that’s effectively what the committee decided today.

She continued: “But thankfully they won’t have the final say on the Eighth Amendment. The electorate will have that responsibility and I am confident they will vote to keep it.

“For anyone who doubts what today’s vote represents, I would encourage them to look at the evidence of abortionist Dr Peter Thompson to the committee where he let the mask slip and described in graphic detail how the baby is first paralysed by the abortionist, who then injects poison into the baby’s heart to stop it beating. This is what some of our politicians view as progress. It is shocking to think that they sat through Dr Thompson’s evidence and then voted today to have what he described introduced in this country.

Ms Sherlock said: “This entire process has made a mockery of democracy. The committee chairperson has been at pains to stress that they invited no advocacy groups to address them when in truth several pro-repeal advocacy groups were invited as witnesses at taxpayers’ expense. One of them, Bpas, is the largest abortion provider in England and has already registered the domain name abortion.ie in Ireland. The committee had no difficulty inviting them to present while disgracefully they refused to extend an invitation to groups representing families who say they owe the life of their child to the Eighth Amendment.”

Commenting on the next phase of the campaign, Ms Sherlock said: “No vote of an Oireachtas committee will distract us or knock us off course in defending the Eighth Amendment. The pro-life movement will give it our all to defeat any referendum proposal taking away protections from unborn babies.

“The clamour for repeal of the Eighth Amendment is clearly political and media driven. It is most definitely not coming from the grassroots up. As pro-life campaigners, we have a single focus in the coming months – to defend and safeguard the Eighth Amendment. We will stay united – truly united – and get the job done.”

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