PR: Rally for Life is back - with thousands expected to march against abortion

Thousands are expected to pack Dublin city centre streets at the Rally for Life this Saturday as supporters from around the country attend the biggest pro-life event of the year. 

This will be the first in-person national pro-life march since 2019 because of Covid restrictions, and organisers say that the chief aim of the Rally is to urge the public - and the government - to Rethink Abortion. 

They also say that recent events in the U.S. and elsewhere, such as the overturning of Roe v Wade, have given fresh momentum to pro-life initiatives worldwide, and shown that culture and law can be changed for the better. See photos of Rally posters and speakers here: "We are gathering to Rally for Life in the context of some 21,000 abortions taking place in just three years, despite assurances from then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and others that it would be 'rare'. 

And we are calling on the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, to ensure the Abortion Review is not a whitewash, and that it examines the disturbing outcomes of the abortion legislation," said Megan Ní Scealláin of the Rally for Life committee.

"Four years after repeal, many voters, including Yes voters, are shocked by the sharp rise in the number of abortions taking place," the Rally spokeswoman said. "We also know  - from the doctors involved in performing abortions - that late-term abortions are taking place in Ireland, with no pain relief for the baby. The Abortion Review must honestly and transparently examine these outcomes." She said that the government needed to be honest about the lack of choices being offered to women under the abortion regime, and said that the rise in the number of women travelling to Britain to abort babies with Down Syndrome was "indicative of the government's failure to support families." 

"The 8th may have been repealed in 2018, but we've seen that many middle-ground voters are appalled by many of the outcomes since," Ms Ní Scealláin said. "Right across Europe and the rest of the world, there's a sense that we need to rethink abortion and that women and babies deserve better options."One of the speakers at the Rally will be Eden McCourt from the UK, a young pro-life feminist who says abortion is rooted in misogyny, and who is one of a new generation of young pro-life voices demanding change.  

Pro-life TDs, including Independent Carol Nolan, Peadar Tóibín of Aontú and Independent Mattie McGrath will also address the Rally for Life, and are expected to draw attention to the Fetal Pain Bill which seeks to mandate pain relief for unborn babies in late-term abortion, and the paucity of resources to help women in crisis continue with their pregnancies, amongst other issues. 

The Rally will also hear from Vicky Wall, a bereaved mother and spokeswoman for the support group, Every Life Counts, who will address the "deeply worrying" case of Baby Christopher, a baby aborted in the National Maternity Hospital after a mistaken diagnosis of Trisomy 18. Ms Wall, whose baby suffered from the same condition, said the case warranted a "serious investigation" into parents coming under pressure to abort their baby after a poor diagnosis, and will tell the Rally that the issue "cannot be swept under the carpet". 

Dr Dermot Kearney, an Irish cardiologist practising in the UK as an NHS consultant, will tell the Rally about his decision to help women who were looking for Abortion Pill Reversal - and how he persevered in the face of a campaign to have him struck off for helping women. The case against Dr Kearney was thrown out by the British High Court and 32 doting mothers have thanked him for providing them with real choices. 

The Rally will assemble at Parnell Square on Saturday, July 2nd, leaving at 2pm and marching down O'Connell Street before hearing speeches and music at Custom House Quay. "It's always a major celebration of Life," said Ms Ní Scealláin, " with balloons and face-painting for the kids and music and banners and flags. 

And local pro-life leaders will take the posters home and use them as part of a Summer of Action being organised for the Rethink Abortion 2022 campaign."