On Friday, Ireland is set to hold a referendum to allow abortion in state hospitals. The 8th Amendment to that country’s constitution recognizes a right to life for babies from conception. The referendum would repeal that amendment, and the government is prepared to push legislation allowing abortion up to 12 weeks. Here’s what you need to know:
1. Abortion Advocates Are Being Dishonest. Pro-lifers have been advertising using Down Syndrome children – pointing out, correctly, the eugenics-driven campaign to annihilate Down Syndrome children from the population via abortion. This drove Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar to condemn pro-lifers: “As the father of a child with Down’s syndrome, I am opposed to the propagandistic use of people like my son in attempts to limit reproductive rights, as has happened in the Irish debate, as well as in the legislative actions taken in various American states to outlaw the abortion of fetuses with Down’s syndrome.” So, in other words, pay no attention to the fact that people are systematically eliminating children with Down Sydrome from the population – mentioning that is inconvenient.
2. Pro-Abortion Outlets Are Censoring Pro-Life Messages. According to the Washington Post, “Facebook announced Tuesday that it would stop accepting related advertisements from groups based outside Ireland. The restriction testifies to the depths of concern that foreign advertising could skew the outcome.” As LifeNews reported, the Post mentioned only pro-life groups. Pro-life groups including the Pro-Life campaign, the Save the 8th group, and the Iona Institute complained about the censorship. According to the UK Spectator, posters of unborn children have been torn down around Ireland.
3. The Vote Will Be Close. Originally, the campaign to overturn the 8th Amendment had an overwhelming advantage; they’re still ahead, but they’ve lost ten points in recent weeks, although those who want to overturn the 8th Amendment have a serious upper hand among undecideds.
4. The New Legislation Goes Beyond 12 Weeks. While the government says that its proposal would legalize abortion until 12 weeks, it would in fact legalize it up to 23 weeks – all you require is two doctors saying the pregnancy would harm the mental health or physical health of the woman. That’s an exception big enough to drive a truck through.
5. Where Is The Catholic Church? The Spectator has asked, rightly, why the Catholic Church – which holds an immense amount of sway in Ireland – has gone largely silent. Here’s Melanie McDonagh:
The Catholic Church is absent from the fight to an extent that would have been hard to imagine in 1983, though it has made clear its support for keeping the amendment — as indeed have the leaders of the Protestant churches. And that’s reflective of the condition of the Church in the wake of successive abuse scandals. “The Church has a chastened position in Irish society,” says Fr Patrick Claffey, who has a central Dublin parish. “The feeling is, let laypeople do the speaking; they have the expertise and they’re doing it very well.”
It appears that in Ireland, unborn children are about to lose their rights. As Western civilization becomes more “sophisticated,” it seems its treatment of the unborn becomes more barbaric.