The Life Institute has welcomed the defeat of a motion to Repeal the 8th Amendment which was before the Limerick City and County Council yesterday.
The motion was proposed by members of the Anti-Austerity Alliance but was decisively rejected yesterday as 23 Councillors voted against the amendment with just 12 supporting the call to repeal the constitutional provision.
[Thanks to Mick in Limerick Pro-Life Action for photo]
Niamh Uí Bhriain of the Life Institute said that it was significant that Councillors had chosen to listen to the wishes of their constituents rather than to the media-driven push to legalise abortion-on-demand in Ireland.
“We welcome this vote by Limerick County and City Council which reflects the opinion of the majority of Irish people who are opposed to the kind of abortion legislation supported by campaigners who are pushing to repeal the 8th amendment,” she said.
“The clamour to repeal the 8th Amendment and legalise abortion as a matter of ‘choice’ is almost entirely media led and driven,” said. “Last July the Rally for Life attracted 30,000 people to march against abortion; last week, the pro-abortion March for Choice only drew a tenth of that number. There is no significant grassroots movement to legalise abortion.”
Ms Uí Bhriain said that Limerick voters had made their pro-life views known to Councillors and she commended those opposing the motion for understanding the consequences of repealing the 8th Amendment.
“By banning abortion, the 8th Amendment has kept our abortion rates low – just 5% of babies conceived in Ireland are aborted [ http://www.thejournal.ie/abortions-ireland-26-2188298-Jun2015/ – “26 Terminations Carried Out in Ireland Under New Abortion Laws” in 2014.
“’Fourteen arose from a risk to the life of the mother arising from physical illness, three arose from a risk to the life of the mother from suicide, and nine from a risk to the life of the mother from emergencies arising from physical illness,’ the Department of Health confirmed in a statement.”].
That number is a shocking 21% in Britain with 200,000 abortions taking place every year. In the UK, more than 90% of babies with Down Syndrome are aborted, and 37% of all abortions are repeat abortions. This is not a model Ireland wants to follow.
“By contrasting the abortion rates in Britain and Ireland, we can estimate that some 150,000 Irish babies have been saved by the 8th Amendment, enough to fill Croke Park twice over. Someone in every street, in every class in school, in almost every workplace, owes their life to our ban on abortion.
“And their mothers are glad of it too.
“That’s why opposition to abortion remains so strong. The people of Limerick understand that abortion kills children and hurts women and we can do better for women in crisis than the medieval solution of abortion.”
RELATED: 26 Terminations Carried Out in Ireland Under New Abortion Laws
http://www.thejournal.ie/abortions-ireland-26-2188298-Jun2015/
[29 Sept 2015, Press Release, Life Institute]