‘Four years, 4,136 lives lost’: Commemoration in Belfast for "babies aborted in NI"

Crowds gathered at Belfast City Hall on Saturday to commemorate Westminster’s imposition of abortion on Northern Ireland, pledging to remember the 4,136 unborn children behind Northern Ireland’s abortion statistics. 

The ‘life chain’ rally was organised by Precious Life, with Director Bernadette Smyth telling attendees that “every child deserves to be protected” from abortion, and that every woman “deserves genuine, life-affirming healthcare and support” when faced with a crisis pregnancy.

She told the crowd that women deserved better than abortion, as she pointed to climbing abortion rates in Ireland North and South – “something I never thought we would see in my lifetime,” along with silent prayer gatherings now being outlawed in the province, with exclusion zones now established at hospitals and abortion centres.

The first arrest under the new law was made a fortnight ago.

The organisation’s Director said it would never stop speaking out in defence of the unborn, as it held a minute’s silence to remember the 4,136 babies who have been aborted under the Westminster-imposed abortion legislation.

“We will never forget these precious babies killed by abortion,” Ms Smyth said. “We will never rest and never give up until the personhood of every unborn baby is restored, and their human rights protected in law, policy and practise in Northern Ireland.”

Attendees held signs which read, “In remembrance” while a tribute of tiny baby shoes spelled out 4,136, the number of confirmed abortions carried out under Section 9, the legal framework which established abortion in the historically pro-life province.

Speaking as various protests took place at a packed City Hall on Saturday afternoon, Ms Smyth told the crowd that peace would not be possible as long as human life remained under attack in the womb.

   

A banner held by attendees promoted a “Restore Personhood message” and called for the repeal of the law, which was brought in during the absence of the Stormont government.

  

Precious Life pointed out how 4,136 lives is the equivalent of 137 classrooms of children; the population of some small towns including Moira and Maghera; and how the province’s abortion regime has cost the NI taxpayer over £1.9 million, according to the group.

That figure has yet to be updated to take into account the abortions carried out in the last 12 months. It was provided to TUV leader Jim Alister last October, indicating that 4,136 abortions had taken place from March 2020 up to September 22nd last year.

It showed a rocketing of abortion rates in Northern Ireland, and was a stark comparison to just 65 abortions being carried out in Northern Ireland between 2014 and 2019, marking a 6,263% rise in the number of abortions being carried out in the space of two and a half years.

The unionist politician and barrister has criticised how the Department of Health in Northern Ireland had not recorded the reasons for abortions being carried out in the north, as is protocol in the rest of the UK.

Speaking when the figures were released to him, the TUV leader pointed to the widespread public opposition to the introduction of a Westminster-imposed abortion law in Northern Ireland, citing a 2019 public consultation which showed sweeping resistance to introducing a localised abortion regime.

“On the only occasion when the public were given the opportunity to express an opinion on abortion a massive 79% of the 21,200 responses to the consultation recorded their opposition to the abortion regulations,” he said.

“In spite of what some in the media may try to claim, there is still considerable opposition to abortion in Northern Ireland and there will be many who will share my alarm at the growth in the number of abortions in our Province.”

---

Maria Maynes

---

This article first appeared on gript and is published here with permission