Opinion

Martin O'Brien: We should be deeply concerned by moves to liberalise abortion laws

Abortion is probably the most contentious issue in Irish politics at the moment. The 'March for Choice' held in Dublin in September was attended by demonstrators demanding change to Ireland's abortion laws
Abortion is probably the most contentious issue in Irish politics at the moment. The 'March for Choice' held in Dublin in September was attended by demonstrators demanding change to Ireland's abortion laws Abortion is probably the most contentious issue in Irish politics at the moment. The 'March for Choice' held in Dublin in September was attended by demonstrators demanding change to Ireland's abortion laws

Abortion is and always will be, arguably, the most difficult and sensitive of subjects to write about.

Particularly so if you are a man who will never be confronted with a crisis pregnancy oneself.

And never have to endure the indescribable pain of regarding, for whatever reason, the arrival of a baby - which should normally be an occasion for joy – as a disaster that cannot be countenanced.

Or the pain of making a lonely decision to undergo an abortion that one may regret to one’s dying day.

So, one always approaches this subject with humility and a sense of compassion and a feeling of “but for the grace of God.”

And, it goes without saying, with no wish to prejudge any woman who deserted by the father or lonely and unsupported, has made the most difficult of decisions imaginable, to take the plane or boat to Britain and become one more statistic in the soulless abortion industry.

Yet, one cannot ignore something chilling that has happened very recently.

So disturbing that one must spell it out as it has not received much coverage, and less commentary here in the north.

I refer to the reality that within a fortnight or so the Republic’s Parliament will debate a recommendation from the Oireachtas Eighth Amendment Committee that would provide for unrestricted abortion in the first twelve weeks of pregnancy.

That would mean law-makers giving the green light to the intentional, deliberate, widespread taking of defenceless, unrepeatable, innocent human life in the womb, what The Irish News described as “the procedure” in the first sentence of its page 8 report on this ominous development, in the December 14 edition, as if the horror of abortion - I will spare readers a graphic description - can be likened to, for example, the steps to be taken on how to inform new employees about work conditions.

If this became law, in the event of the repeal of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, which protects the right to life of the unborn and the equal right to life of the mother - in an abortion referendum expected in May or June - then no unborn baby up to three months in the womb will have any legal protection.

That would mean abortion on demand in the first twelve weeks, the expectant mother not being required to give medics any reason for her decision that she may later regret, or not as the case may be.

And it would mean a more liberal abortion regime in Ireland, in the first three months, at any rate, and probably overall if other liberalising recommendations are also passed, than that provided under the catastrophic 1967 Abortion Act, that has resulted in the killing of nearly nine million unborn babies over the past fifty years and the effective enshrining in law of the scary principle that not all human life is equal, that there is an inferior form of human life that is disposable.

If unborn babies fifty years ago in Britain and in Ireland today, why not the elderly and infirm, who are so expensive to care for, in fifty years’ time or less?

The cheerleaders for abortion rights, whether they be in Sinn Féin - who to their shame deny their TDs the right of a vote of conscience on this issue, unlike Fine Gael and Fianna Fail - the Green Party or Amnesty International or wherever, are no doubt already cheered by the prospect of women in the north being able to avail of abortion provision (which they describe grotesquely as “healthcare” ) across the border, if the Eighth Amendment is repealed.

There is an underlying assumption in the campaign to liberalise our thankfully restrictive abortion laws in both Irish jurisdictions that just because abortion is freely available in Britain then justice and compassion dictates that it must be similarly permitted elsewhere.

That is a superficially plausible argument, but it does not stand up.

Abortion is wrong everywhere.

The life of an unborn baby in Aberdeen or Arundel is just as sacred as that of the unborn baby in Ballycastle or Bantry.

It is to be fervently hoped that the attempt to repeal the Eighth Amendment is defeated, heartening those here in the north, right across society, who oppose abortion and believe that “hard cases make bad law.”

The SDLP now has an opportunity to build on its pro-life credentials by attracting Sinn Féin supporters and ex- supporters (such as Anne Brolly), who cannot stomach SF’s policy on abortion. Will they seize it?