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

Peri-natal hospice care raised in Seanad following important briefing

The issue of peri-natal hospice care (care of mothers and babies where the unborn child has a life-shortening or limiting abnormality diagnosed in utero) was raised in the Seanad earlier this week following a briefing to politicians from a number of parents of children who either died shortly after birth or are living with a serious disability. 

The briefing was co-hosted by Senators Rónán Mullen, Darragh O' Brien, Mary-Ann O'Brien and TDs Regina Doherty and Arthur Spring. It was attended by almost 60 members of the Dáil and Seanad.   In a very moving and thought provoking session, the families present shared their personal experiences of the births and (sometimes short) lives of their children.

Following the briefing, during the Order of Business in the Seanad, several senators including Senator Mary-Ann O’Brien praised the courage of the parents who spoke. She said: “I wish everyone had been there this morning to hear how fragile life is and that we are here to respect human beings. There was great sadness but great dignity portrayed this morning by those wonderful parents.” Other senators called for a debate in the Seanad on the need for better peri-natal hospice care facilities in Ireland. 

Congratulations to Senator Mullen and his Oireachtas colleagues for hosting such an important and extremely well attended briefing.

Click here to watch a video on peri-natal hospice care which was shown to politicians at this week's briefing

PLC strongly critical of Fine Gael response on abortion

The Pro Life Campaign has accused Fine Gael of resorting to ‘spin’ in an attempt to fend off criticism of Minister for Health, James Reilly’s statement that Ireland ‘must’ introduce an abortion regime. 

In an email to its TDs and Senators, the Fine Gael press office described last week’s media reports on the Minister for Health as “fundamentally flawed and substantially incorrect.” However, the press office refused to be drawn on where precisely the reports in question were inaccurate.   

In response, the Pro Life Campaign said there “was nothing flawed or incorrect in the newspaper reports. The Minister for Health's statement that abortion ‘must’ be introduced in Ireland was as clear as day.” 

Read more on Pro Life Campaign's website

Pro Life Campaign says Fine Gael need to face up to commitments rather than resorting to spin

The Pro Life Campaign has described as “disgraceful” the fact that Minister for Health James Reilly has begun replying to members of the public that Ireland "must" bring in abortion along the lines of the controversial 'X Case' decision and says this “turns the entire Expert Group on abortion process into a farce.”

In correspondence to fellow TDs and members of the public, Minister Reilly makes it clear that following on from the decision in A, B and C v. Ireland by the European Court of Human Rights, Ireland “must put in place a legislative or regulatory regime providing effective and accessible procedures whereby pregnant women can establish whether or not they are entitled to a lawful abortion in accordance with Article 40.3.3 of the Constitution as interpreted by the Supreme Court in the X case.”

Minister Reilly hinted at such an approach during the recent Clare Daly Bill on Abortion in the Dáil but just recently he has become starkly explicit about his plans.

Following the publication of this fact in the Irish Catholic Newspaper last week, the Fine Gael press office, in an e-mail to its TDs and Senators, described the newspaper report on the issue as “fundamentally flawed and substantially incorrect”.   However, the Pro Life Campaign this week insisted there “was nothing flawed or incorrect in the report.  Minister Reilly’s statement that abortion “must” be introduced in Ireland was as clear as day.”

Dr Ruth Cullen said that Dr Reilly’s comments remain “an extremely worrying development that throws into doubt whether Fine Gael will stand over, or betray, its solemn written commitment to the electorate not to bring in abortion.

“Senior members of Fine Gael need to take responsibility for a process that is fast derailing into a public farce with a Fine Gael Minister now publicly touting as official policy that Ireland “must” bring in abortion.

“Fine Gael needs to acknowledge the seriousness of the situation and not try and spin its way out of controversy. As things stand, Minister Reilly has primed the expert group to report back with a narrow list of options, all leading to abortion.”

“This is an outrage given Ireland’s outstanding record in caring for mothers and babies in pregnancy without recourse to abortion,” Dr Cullen said.

It is increasingly clear that the Expert Group process is not about protecting women’s lives but about bringing in abortion. If this is proven correct, the Pro Life Campaign will mount an even more vigorous campaign to ensure that abortion is not brought in under any guise including the one describing it as a ‘medical treatment.’

And it will ensure that every Fine Gael voter the length and breadth of the country is fully informed of any shift in party policy away from its pre-election pro-life commitments.

Public wants Fine Gael to honour its pro-life commitments Pro Life Campaign calls on Minister for Health to clarify Fine Gael’s stance on abortion following Dáil speech

The Pro Life Campaign today released the latest Millward Brown Lansdowne polling research on life issues which shows strong public backing for the pro-life commitments made by Fine Gael prior to the general election in 2011. The research also reveals significant public support for current medical practice in Ireland where there is a duty of care towards the baby when intervening in pregnancy to save the mother’s life.

The research was carried out on a quota controlled sample of 979 people aged 18+ between 2nd – 15th May 2012.

The first question reads:

Just prior to polling day in the 2011 General Election, Fine Gael said it was opposed to the legalisation of abortion and experimentation on human embryos. It said that Fine Gael’s representatives would bring to the proposed all-party committee a clear commitment that women in pregnancy will receive whatever treatments are necessary to safeguard their lives, and the duty of care to preserve the life of the baby will also be upheld.  Would you agree or disagree with this commitment?

Overall, of those who expressed an opinion, 80% agreed with the commitment and 20% disagreed.  In Connacht/Ulster which includes the Taoiseach’s constituency of Mayo, 87% agreed and only 13% disagreed.

The second question was worded as follows:

Current medical practice in Ireland does not allow the deliberate killing of the unborn baby.  In a crisis pregnancy situation, the doctor has a duty of care towards the baby when intervening to save the mother’s life.  Do you consider that this ethical practice should be protected by law?

78% of those who expressed an opinion said it should and 22% disagreed.  There was majority support in all ages, social classes and regions.

Commenting on the poll findings, Dr Berry Kiely of the Pro Life Campaign said: “When the ethical distinction between induced abortion and necessary medical interventions in pregnancy is clarified in polling questions, the true strength of public opposition to abortion is revealed. The latest poll findings bear this out and are immensely reassuring from a pro-life perspective.”

Referring to the speech by Minister for Health, James Reilly in the Dáil during the recent Private Members’ Bill on abortion, Dr Kiely said,  “The Minister for Health’s speech alarmed pro-life supporters and he has a responsibility to clarify his position and that of Fine Gael”.

In his speech Minister Reilly said that the previous six governments had failed to legislate for the X Case decision but that the present Government “will not be the seventh.”

In response to this, Dr Kiely said, “It is clear from the Minister’s remarks that he does not expect the “Expert Group” on abortion to list as one of its options ways of complying with the European Court of Human Rights decision in A, B and C v. Ireland, that afford legal protection to both mother and baby in pregnancy. This completely undermines Fine Gael’s solemn pre-election commitment opposing abortion legislation and pledging that “women in pregnancy will receive whatever treatments are necessary to safeguard their lives and the duty of care to preserve the life of the baby will also be upheld.

“Legislation based on the X Case would amount to abortion on demand as the judges heard no medical evidence and set no time limits for when an abortion could take place. In addition the recent European court decision in A, B and C v. Ireland does not oblige us to introduce an abortion regime.

“Instead of repeating pro-abortion claims, the Minister for Health needs to acknowledge that Ireland, without abortion, is the safest country in the world for pregnant women as recognised by the UN and World Health Organisation. The Minister also needs to clarify Fine Gael’s stance on abortion in light of his recent speech in the Dáil”, Dr Kiely concluded.

PLC welcomes fall in abortion rates for tenth consecutive year. While abortion rates fall, rate of women regretting abortions rise

The Pro Life Campaign has welcomed the latest Irish abortion figures released on the 29th of May 2012, by the British Department of Health,* which show that the number of Irish women travelling to Britain for abortions has decreased for the tenth consecutive year.


In 2011, 4,149 Irish women travelled to Britain for abortions, down from 4,402 in 2010 and 4,422 in 2009.  The 2011 figures show a marked decrease over previous years.  2011 is the tenth consecutive year that Irish abortions have declined and represents a 38% decline since the high of 6,673 Irish abortions in 2001.


The release of these figures follows the recent report ** from the HSE/Crisis Pregnancy Programme showing an increase in the number of women expressing abortion regret.  In that study, 44 per cent of women expressed varying degrees of regret about their abortions up from 33 per cent in a similar HSE study in 2003.


In a statement welcoming the continuing reduction in the number of Irish women travelling to Britain for abortion, Cora Sherlock of the Pro Life Campaign said:


“While it is too early to draw firm conclusions, the fact that the abortion figures are decreasing while the number of women expressing regret after abortion is increasing, shows the need for a much closer examination of women’s experiences of abortion, including abortion regret."


She said: “There has been a refusal on the part of those campaigning for abortion in Ireland to take on board the research indicating the negative consequences of abortion for women. This does a tremendous disservice to women. The claims by some groups that the reduced figures can be explained by the fact that women are travelling to other countries is not backed by the evidence."

 *Summary Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2011 (29/05/12)  ** Irish Contraception and Crisis Pregnancy Study 2010 (ICCP 2010), published in May 2012 (HSE/CPP)

Study showing regret after abortion must be considered by the Minister For Health says Pro Life Campaign

A comprehensive study showing that 44 per cent of women expressed varying degrees of regret about their abortions “must be urgently considered by the Minister for Health”, the Pro Life Campaign (PLC) has said.

They were responding to the Irish Contraception and Crisis Pregnancy Study 2010 (ICCP 2010), produced by the HSE's Crisis Pregnancy Programme (CPP).

The study showed that 31pc of women who had abortion experienced "some regrets", with 13pc reporting that they experienced “a lot of regrets”. This represents an increase from 2003, when 22pc reported experiencing some regret, with 11pc saying they had a lot of regrets.

Spokesperson for the PLC, Dr Ruth Cullen, said the figures showed that the abortion debate “needed to make room for the voices of the increasing number of women who regret their abortion”.

She said: "While there has been considerable media focus on the stories of women who wished to see abortion legal in Ireland, the same cannot be said for the stories of women who regret their abortions. This has to change.

She said: “Even organisations like the National Women's Council of Ireland, which are supposed to represent all women, dismiss organisations that seek to express the pain of women hurt by abortion.

Dr Cullen also said that Minister James Reilly needs to take into account the experiences of women who regretted their abortion and ensure that counselling services also acknowledge this reality.

She expressed surprise that the CPP had not conducted research into the mental health impact of abortion, given the fact that there were now a number of studies showing that abortion presented a considerable risk to the mental health of women.

Dr. Cullen said: “A number of peer reviewed studies have now shown that women who have abortions are up to 30pc more likely to experience subsequent mental health problems. This is even after those studies controlled for women with pre-existing mental health conditions.

“One might have expected a comprehensive study on crisis pregnancy to have examined this area.”

Dr Cullen also noted that the study's findings on attitudes to abortion were compromised by the question asked.

According to the survey, 45 per cent of adults believed abortion should be permissible in all circumstances, down from over 50 per cent in a similar study in 2003. And 44 per cent said it should be available under certain circumstances, up from 39 per cent in 2003.

However, Dr Cullen said, the survey's question relating to abortion when there is a risk to the woman's life “failed to make the distinction between medical interventions in pregnancy to save the mother's life and induced abortion, the sole aim of which is to end the life of the baby.

She said that this shortcoming in the research made the findings on attitudes to abortion “effectively irrelevant”.

Pro Life Campaign says Labour Party abortion stance 'ignores hurt abortion causes women'

A motion passed at  Labour Party's conference (15th April 2012)  in favour of abortion legislation has been described by the Pro Life Campaign (PLC) as “ignoring the hurt that abortion causes women”.

In a statement, PLC spokesperson, Dr Ruth Cullen said that those who spoke in favour of the motion had “tried to imply that legislation would safeguard women’s lives”.

“In fact, the motion was about seeking abortion on demand,” Dr Cullen said.

She added: “Those who supported the motion should know that Ireland, without abortion, is the safest country for pregnant women and that there is a clear distinction between necessary medical treatment in pregnancy and direct abortion, the aim of which is to end the baby’s life.

“Repeatedly, figures from the United Nations on maternal mortality show that Ireland is a world leader in this area. Yet instead of celebrating this achievement, pro-abortion campaigners repeatedly distort the facts.

“The adoption of the motion also shows that the Labour Party is ignoring the hurt that abortion causes women.

“Increasingly, research is showing that abortion is a leading risk factor for increased mental health problems for women.

“Despite this, Labour has assumed an outdated position that refuses to take on board this evidence, or the stories that many women are telling about the trauma that abortion has caused them.”

Dr Cullen added: “There is nothing progressive about adopting a policy that disregards the right to life and ignores the negative effects of abortion on women.

“This latest evidence of Labour’s aggressive stance in favour of abortion makes it all the more imperative that voters hold Fine Gael to their election promise to retain Ireland’s pro-life stance.”

URGENT: Fine Gael needs to hear from a lot more pro-life people

The Postcard to Politicians campaign is going well but it’s clear that Fine Gael needs to hear from a lot more pro-life people so that enough pressure is brought to bear on the leadership within Fine Gael. The situation is very serious at present and there is a real danger that abortion legislation could become a reality if those who oppose it do not speak up.
During the recent Dáil debate on abortion the Minister for Health, Dr James Reilly strongly implied that the Government is committed to introducing some form of abortion legislation in the very near future. To read more details about the Minister's speech and the current situation, you can view our new briefing document here 
Before the last General Election, Fine Gael gave a strong pro-life commitment.  We must now hold them to that.  Please order postcards free of charge to send to your local Fine Gael Oireachtas members. It is vital that politicians hear from constituents at this time.

You can view a sample of the Postcards here 

Please take one minute to order postcards here

If you are a member of a prayer group, we will be happy to send you a prepared letter designed to read out to prayer groups which clearly explains the current threat.

This is a crucial time. Please order cards now and share this message with as many pro-life people as possible. Thank you for your continued support.

New: PLC Statistics Library

The Pro Life Campaign's research team has been compiling statistics on abortion, maternal mortality and associated matters for some years. Now, we have compiled the data in easily downloadable PDF format and have made it freely available on our website.

If you are interested in viewing abortion statistics for Ireland andcomparative figures for Britain, Europe and beyond, visit our new Statistics Library here >> 

Order and send Postcards to your local FG representatives today

During the recent Dáil debate on abortion the Minister for Health, Dr James Reilly strongly implied that the Government is committed to introducing some form of abortion legislation in the very near future. This is an extremely serious development. To read more details about the Minister's speech and the current situation, you can view our new briefing document here

Before the last General Election, Fine Gael gave a strong pro-life commitment. We must now hold them to that.

We are asking you to send a newly-printed postcard to each Fine Gael member of the Oireachtas in your constituency. It is vital that politicians receive physical postcards from constituents at this time.

A sample of the Postcard is set out below.

Please take one minute to order postcards here

Alternatively you can call or text (086) 2195 317 or email mail@prolifecampaign.ie to order postcards.

If you are a member of a prayer group, we will be happy to send you a prepared letter designed to read out to prayer groups which clearly explains the current threat.

This is a crucial time.

Please order cards now and share this message with as many pro-life people as possible. Thank you for your continued support.

Irish Stem Cell Foundation accused of distorting Stem Cell Research debate

The Irish Stem Cell Foundation today called for legislation to allow human embryonic stem cell research to take place in Ireland. The Supreme Court ruled last year in R v. R (frozen embryos case) that human embryos outside the mother’s womb do not enjoy Constitutional protection. This decision, however, in no way impedes the Government from introducing legislation that protects the human embryo from destructive research or abuses in assisted human reproduction.

Responding to the Irish Stem Cell Foundation's call for legislation to allow human embryonic research, Dr. Ruth Cullen of the Pro-Life Campaign said that since its launch the Irish Stem Cell Foundation has been a staunch promoter of embryo research so it’s not at all surprising that it now seeks legislation to give it legal backing.

What is disconcerting is the manipulative way it distorts any alleged benefits of this type of research without mentioning the fact that it also involves the destruction of human life at its earliest stages of development.

The Irish Stem Cell Foundation states correctly that false claims about cures for debilitating conditions are being made by some stem cell practitioners. However, these scams occur in both embryonic and adult stem cell research and, unfortunately, are not uncommon in medical research generally. To use this, as the Irish Stem Cell Foundation does, as a cover to promote embryo research is both bizarre and intellectually dishonest.

The reality is all breakthroughs and treatments we read about in the media involve adult stem cell research, which is perfectly ethical. Embryo stem cell research on the other hand is highly controversial, unethical and has led to no valid treatments for patients.

Instead of calling for socially divisive legislation sanctioning embryo destructive research, the Irish Stem Cell Foundation should join with others in seeking to make Ireland a centre of excellence for adult stem cell research, which is extremely promising scientifically and does not lead to the destruction of human life at its fragile beginnings.

Time and Newsweek Magazines highlight 'waning' influence of pro-choice movement

Remember Roe!’, an article by Sarah Kliff in Newsweek (21st April 2010), paints a dramatic picture of a greying abortion rights leadership in the US racked by a growing anxiety about who will take over the torch from them when they retire.

One of the strongest abortion rights groups in the US is the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws (NARAL), founded in 1969.

Its current president, Nancy Keenan, described in the article her response to the huge crowds flocking to the March for Life in Washington DC this January - ‘my gosh, they are so young - there are so many of them and they are so young.’

There were 400,000 at the March for Life. Two months earlier, the pro-abortionists held a rally against Congressman Bart Stupak’s proposed abortion opt outs in the Health Care Bill and only 1,300 turned up. Over 300-times as many activists came to the March for Life as bothered to turn up to oppose restrictions on abortion in Obama’s health-care package.

In her Newsweek piece, Sarah Kliff says that the difficulties encountered by pro-choice activists during the recent US health care debate marks ‘the day when they became aware of their waning influence in Washington.’

The Newsweek article said that research carried out by the National Association for the Repeal of Abortion Laws found that 51% of under 30s opposed to abortion see it as a ‘very important voting issue’. Only 26% of young people who support abortion see it as a very important voting issue. Their research found a similar though lesser difference among older voters.

This means that it is a live political issue for the pro-life voters especially the young, whereas it is not a hot issue for those who are pro-abortion. So the pro-life activists are pushing an open political door that the pro-abortion activists are not holding shut.

In a separate article in the current Time magazine (3rd May 2010) Terry O’Neill, President of the pro-abortion National Organization for Women, concedes in passing that those on the pro-life side ‘are winning the abortion fight.’

Her intuition was reflected in a number of polls in the last year suggesting that a tipping point may have been reached in American public opinion with the pro-abortion view on the brink of slipping into a minority position as the trend edges in a pro-life direction.

Polls by Gallup and Pew have found rises in the numbers taking a pro-life position and falls in the numbers taking a pro-abortion position. Gallup’s poll exactly a year ago, found ‘51% of Americans calling themselves “pro-life” on the issue of abortion and 42% “pro-choice”.’

Gallup says “this is the first time a majority of US adults have identified themselves as pro-life since Gallup began asking this question in 1995.”

At a time when pro-choice campaigners should be exulting in their current successes – the election of the most pro-abortion politician in America as President, control of Congress by the Democrats, pro-abortion since 1980 - they are instead keenly aware that things are not going their way. Without becoming complacent, pro-life supporters should take heart from these encouraging and uplifting developments.

Groups presssure Lancet editor to delay publication of maternal mortality research

Lancet, a leading medical journal, has just published a new study of international maternal mortality rates, which finds that the World Bank, the WHO and UNICEF statistics for maternal mortality were over 100,000 too high due to reporting and methodological problems.

But in a corrupt and brazen, and thankfully, unsuccessful, attempt to subordinate science to politics, ‘advocacy groups’ lobbied the editor of Lancet, Dr Richard Horton to delay the publication of the new study until after upcoming meetings of the UN Commission on Population and Development, the Women Deliver Conference and the next UN Assembly, which are scheduled to discuss maternal mortality.

What’s bugging these ‘advocates’? Dr Donna Harrison, President of the American Academy of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said of the new Lancet article:

"The study uses the best statistical methods currently available and clearly demonstrates that worldwide legalization of abortion is unnecessary to bring about significant decreases in maternal mortality. The American Academy of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynaecologists encourages the UN member nations to continue to develop even better statistical information by improving the identification of maternal mortality causality, especially induced abortion related mortality, which is most often underreported or misreported".

Where the UN bodies have been pushing for ‘safe’ and ‘legal’ abortion as the key to bringing improving maternal mortality rates, the new Lancet article does not. It found key causal factors improving maternal mortality – falling pregnancy rates in some countries, higher per capita income, higher education rates for women, and increasing availability of basic medical care, and in particular, ‘skilled birth attendants’.

US National Public Radio has just issued a mandatory censorship protocol for reporters.

They are no longer allowed to use the word ‘pro-life’ to those campaigning for the right to life of unborn children. They have to call them ‘abortion rights opponents’.

In describing those who support abortion, reporters have been forbidden to use the phrase ‘pro-abortion.’ They may, naturally, describe those who oppose abortion as ‘anti-abortion’.

Similar thought-control policies have been adopted by major US news corporations Associated Press, Washington Post, New York Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, CNN, CBS and NBC.

Dictats on what words reporters are allowed to use? Prescribed words? Forbidden words? Sound familiar?

This kind of ideological censorship was chillingly diagnosed by George Orwell in his final novel, 1984. The totalitarian society seeks to suppress and eventually eliminate dissent from the officially desired thoughts by gradually imposing a new obligatory official language called Newspeak so that dissenting opinion, not only cannot be articulated in a publicly approved way, but, in the end, cannot even be thought privately.

As Orwell put it, the purpose was not only to provide a medium of expression for the ‘proper’ worldview and mental habits, ‘but to make all other modes of thought impossible’ – it was intended that when Newspeak.had been adopted for once and for all, an unorthodox thought ‘should be literally unthinkable.’ This was done, he says, ‘chiefly by the eliminating undesirable words and by stripping such words as remained of unorthodox meanings.’ The imposed words, Orwell says, ‘had been deliberately constructed for political purposes’, that is, they ‘were intended to impose a desirable mental attitude upon the person using them.’

What a terrible irony – major news organizations in the free world are imposing Newspeak on their reporters.

Now we have major news outlets in the free world succumbing to the ideology of abortion rights which renders the unborn child what in Orwellian Newspeak presciently calls an ‘unperson.’

In Nazi Germany, gleichschaltung was the process by which one institution after another conformed to the totalitarian ideology in power, sometimes without even having to be compelled - they just saw the way the wind was blowing and got in line voluntarily.

The fact that major news institutions in the US are engaging in a self-imposed pro-abortion gleichschaltung is hard not to read it as a move of desperation on the part of the pro-abortion ideological elite.

They sense public opinion gradually shifting from majority pro-abortion to majority pro-life. They see this reflected in polls showing a majority in the US for the first time in recent years describing itself as pro-life rather than pro-abortion.

They see one movie after another exploring unexpected pregnancies in a positive light and showing ways forward, movies like Waitress, Knocked Up, Juno, Precious and Leonera, and on the other hand, the even more radical emergence of movies showing the dark side of abortion, movies like 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days.

They see women who’ve been through abortion coming forward together asking for their experience to be heard and heeded.

They’re losing the debate, so they’re changing tack. ‘If we can’t win the debate, let’s not have the debate, let’s suppress it’, they seem to be saying.

If news outlets opt to turn themselves into a pro-abortion echo-chamber – talking to one another in a fake language designed to pretend that abortion is not destroying a human life - they will lose half the public.

With the click of a mouse, the days of this kind of censorship are well and truly numbered.

RTE Bias on Abortion

Scannal Programme was a Blatant Pro-Abortion Promo
24ú Feabhra 2010

RTÉ - Mícothrom agus claonta i ngaeilge agus i mbéarla araon.

It's no secret that RTÉ the tax-funded State broadcaster is openly hostile to the pro-life position. The station doesn’t even bother anymore to create the pretence of balance when covering life issues. The latest manifestation of this was on Scannal, broadcast on RTÉ 1 last Monday, 22nd February at 7.30pm. You can watch it on the RTÉ player if you care to.

Even the description of the programme on the RTÉ website lets the cat out of the bag. It states: “Scannal looks back at a story that gripped the nation and raised the issue of abortion once again, an issue subsequent Governments have failed to fully deal with through legislation”

The so-called failure to deal with the issue through legislation might have something to do with the fact that the majority of Irish people are opposed to abortion and that the controversial X case decision by the Supreme Court in 1992 failed to set any time limits for abortion and if legislated for would have to allow abortion up to birth.

Were the producers of Scannal remotely interested in balance they could have invited reasoned pro-life voices to make these and other points in defence of the right to life.

RTÉ insists on turning a blind eye to the compelling arguments against abortion. Whilst we heard about the difficult circumstances surrounding the X case and the injunction sought by the Attorney General at the time - and nobody belittles the emotional difficulties that faced Miss X and her family - we heard nothing on Scannal about the fact that the X case judges heard no medical evidence to justify the Supreme Court decision.

Similarly, we heard nothing about the health of women in the wider context of the abortion issue. For example in recent years, several studies have been published, and in particular a study from Finland in 2005, showing that women are more likely to commit suicide after having an abortion than whilst pregnant. One horrifying case that illustrates this is that of Emma Beck, a 31 year old English artist who committed suicide in 2007 after aborting her twins. Emma's suicide note read: "I told everyone I didn't want to do it, even at the hospital. I was frightened, now it is too late. I died when my babies died. I want to be with my babies: they need me, no-one else does."

In fact the link between abortion and negative mental health consequences has become so clear that the British Royal College of Psychiatrists recommended that abortion counselling leaflets be updated to include information about the latest studies showing the negative effects of abortion on women. Separately, research published in the British Journal of Psychiatry in 2008, concluded that induced abortion is linked to an increased risk of mental illness in later life.

Importantly, the fact that Irish women receive all necessary medical treatments during pregnancy here - even if it unintentionally results in the loss of the unborn - was not highlighted on Scannal. Nor was the fact that despite having no abortion in this country, Ireland is rated number one in the world in protecting women’s lives during pregnancy, according to the latest UN/WHO report on maternal mortality. Ireland, for example, is a much safer country in which to be pregnant than say Britain or Holland, where unrestricted abortion regimes exist.

But RTÉ didn't see fit to take on board any of that. Why? Because it wouldn't have helped the agenda that RTÉ constantly pushes in favour of abortion.

RTÉ never reports on the brutality of what abortion regimes entail in other countries, like for example the fact that abortion is legal up to birth in Britain. Do we want to follow England's abortion regime - one of the most liberal in the world - where babies are aborted simply because they have 'disabilities' like hare lips and cleft palates? RTÉ seems to think we should considering the open way it promotes abortion without limits.

RTÉ has never once presented a programme that set out to challenge abortion advocates who believe that unborn children are deserving of absolutely no protection throughout the entire nine months of pregnancy. Surely there is something very suspect here?

On every occasion without exception RTÉ builds it coverage of the issue around challenging the pro-life side to justify its position. This is a genuine scandal that the programme Scannal, if it was doing its job would investigate!

The way RTÉ treats the pro-life issue is becoming a major story in itself. If the station continues along the path of openly promoting abortion, pro-life activists will have no choice but to devote all their energies into making the public aware of the culture of ideological bias in RTÉ in favour of abortion.

Abortion, Ireland and Human Rights Watch

Human Rights Watch Report on abortion and Ireland - a lecture on political ideology and a mockery of human rights

It is not difficult to criticise the report issued by the increasingly controversial Human Rights Watch, a US based advocacy group which seeks to attack Ireland’s pro-life ethos.

By criticising Ireland’s law which protects the life of the unborn child and which ensures that Ireland is one of the safest countries in the world for pregnant women and their unborn children, this group has damaged its own credibility and is making a mockery of the concept of human rights.

However one need not be surprised by this report. Human Rights Watch has become an abortion advocacy group and this report is part of an ongoing co-ordinated campaign to push an abortion regime on Ireland. One only has to look at this group’s almost complete lack of interest in other serious women’s rights abuses. For example they appear to have little concern about China’s one child policy -where Chinese women are forced to undergo abortions and sterilisations by the Chinese state.

The Women’s Rights Advocacy Director for this organisation is on record for stating that she doesn’t believe in banning sex selective abortion – which results in the abortion of baby girls because they are girls. This practice is widespread in countries such as China and India. These views are extreme.

It should be noted that because of the lobbying of this organisation and others and their demands for government funding of abortion in the US, a large portion of the US population may well continue to be denied access to universal health care. This is profoundly disappointing.

The Irish public should see this report for what it is. A statement of political ideology rather than a genuine report on human rights.