How much more abortion can PBP possibly want?

On December 16th 2022, Bríd Smith TD of People Before Profit, moved a Bill to amend the abortion law in Ireland. The Bill is entitled as follows:

“An Act to amend the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 to provide for abortion on request prior to foetal viability; to abolish the 3 day waiting period for abortion on request; to allow for abortion on grounds of fatal foetal abnormality that are likely to lead to the death of the foetus either before or within a year of birth; to allow for abortion where there is a risk to the life, or of serious harm to the health, of the pregnant woman; and to decriminalise the provision of abortion.”

Credit: Dáil Éireann

This Bill echoes the opinions of both the Abortion Rights Campaign and the National Women’s Council of Ireland, who have called for essentially the same thing: no time to think in the form of a mandatory 3-day waiting period for pregnant women seeking abortions, and abortion on demand up to the 6th month of pregnancy (viability).

This is late-term abortion on demand. This should horrify you. 

Additionally, the proposed edit to the law will allow for abortions in the case of pre-born babies diagnosed with life-limiting conditions, that are “likely to lead” to their death “either before or within a year of birth”. 

This is designed to broaden the grounds for disability abortion. The natural human reaction, one would have thought, in situations such as these should be loving, towards both mother and baby. The reality of little babies being diagnosed with serious, life-limiting conditions should arouse an overwhelming sense of sympathy and compassion in a person, not a strong desire to promote the further limiting of their lives by abortion.

We overlook too often that medical professionals are often wrong, not least about prenatal diagnoses - as highlighted by The New York Times. Here in Ireland, the tragic case of Baby Christopher clearly shows this. Moreover, babies born with conditions such as Edwards Syndrome (Trisomy 18) can live for more than a year. Why is abortion offered like a solution to a life-limiting condition, when all it does is take away all hope and love, and bring an innocent life to a definite end?

The bottom line is this: these babies have a right to their own life, no matter how short it may be. Their right to exist is not up to anyone else, no matter what the law says.

In relation to the proposed abolishing of the 3-day waiting period, Bríd Smith commented on the fact that “this requirement does not apply to any other healthcare issue.” 

Except for the fact that there absolutely is a wait-requirement in the case of other healthcare issues. In a video news-piece by Gript, Consultant Obstetrician Dr. Trevor Hayes spoke about the absolute importance of retaining the 3-day waiting period, and added that: 

“If one gets any medical or surgical procedure, there is an in-built cooling-off period where 3 questions have to be answered by the patient: 

1. Do I need this operation? 
2. What are the benefits?
3. What are the risks and complications?

You need time, you need counselling, you need to reflect to make the appropriate decision.” 

However, this is not specifically written into law, as is the case with the legislation around abortion. That’s because abortion is not like any “healthcare issue”. It is not interchangeable with a routine operation at any of the hospitals in the country - hence the reality that there are hospitals and GP’s in Ireland that still do not provide so-called “abortion care”. There is a reason why there is provision made for conscientious objections. This crucial 3-day wait requirement does not legally apply anywhere else because nowhere else are we dealing with the ending of human life. Never before in the history of the Irish State have we been lawfully killing the most vulnerable among us at such an alarming rate.

Once again, this is what every ‘yes’ vote in the 2018 referendum has led to. We were warned this would happen. But don’t take our word for it, Bríd says it herself: “I am calling on all parties and TDs in the Dáil to support the passage of this bill so that we can bring Ireland’s abortion legislation in line with the demands and spirit of the Repeal movement.” There you have it. You weren’t voting for ‘safe, legal, rare’. Late-term abortion and killing of sick little babies is the fully-fledged, uninhibited spirit of Repeal in full force.

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Credit: Header photo : Unborn child at 5 months - Life Issues Institute  

    

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