National Vigil for Life. June 8th. Merrion Sq.

Thousands of people are working hard to oppose the Government’s destructive abortion proposal. Thank you for playing YOUR part.

We simply must keep the effort up to stop this appalling legislation. As things stand, two psychiatrists, with an obstetrician on the sidelines, will be able to sign away the life of a child of a healthy mother. This is a travesty of good medicine.

There can be no question of pessimism on our side or resignation that all this is going to happen. We must oppose this at every step – before, during and after events in the Dáil and Seanad – and propose a positive alternative. We must never give up on the cause of human dignity.

So we urge you to do all you can to make the National Vigil for Life on 8th June a big success. This Vigil comes at the key moment with the Government producing the actual legislation. 

We must demonstrate the massive number of pro-life people in Ireland. Early June is a critical time and we need you to do everything that you can – now.Please get involved by attending yourself and also bringing as many others as possible.

Bring a carload or a busload! 

To organise a bus from your area, please telephone Denise on (087) 266 8702, Theresa on (085) 871 1100 or Maria on (085) 883 4636

You can order leaflets instantly to spread among family and friends here

For information on updates like the National Vigil For Life Facebook page and follow @natvigil4life on Twitter

Abortion in Ireland

Marie Stopes – yet another misleading abortion poll

Source: Pro Life Campaign

When it waddles like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it’s a duck. Abortion-provider Marie Stopes’ YouGov poll on abortion, released earlier this week, scored high on quackery.

If you ask a loaded question, you get a loaded and so worthless answer. Loaded with what? Loaded with false presuppositions that are never spelt out to the respondent.

The latest Marie Stopes poll claims three quarters of the Irish public support abortion in certain circumstances. The poll makes no distinction between necessary medical interventions in pregnancy and induced abortion, where the life of the unborn baby is directly targeted.

When a poll asks misleading questions, the answers measure how far the questioner has misled the respondents. If your question implies that women’s lives and health are at risk because abortion is not available, then you are inviting the answer, ‘Of course, abortion should be available to save those women’s lives.’ But that’s a loaded question. It is loaded with a false presupposition.

The truth is that Ireland is the safest country on planet earth for a woman having a baby. We have the best, the best, maternal safety for the lives of mothers having babies in the world.

Opinion polls are supposed to be snapshots of public opinion not tools of ideological propaganda. When the public are asked straightforward not misleading questions on abortion the answer is overwhelmingly pro-life. In a 2009 IMS/Millward Brown poll commissioned by the Pro-Life Campaign, 63% of the public supported a prohibition on abortion while ensuring the continuation of existing practice of intervention to save a mother’s life. Only 16% said they were opposed to such a prohibition on abortion.

The pro-life community needs to understand what Marie Stopes and similar abortion advocacy groups are working at. The possibility that their polls may be misleading doesn’t seem to bother them. The fact that a sizable chunk of the media is prepared to run with their polls without asking tough questions about them makes it easier for them to create a public expectation around the idea that abortion legislation is inevitable. This highlights the necessity for groups like the Pro-Life Campaign to avail of every opportunity to set the record straight with the public.