One of the two parties that form the current Government of Ireland, Fianna Fáil, recently allied itself with the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats (ALDE) in the European Parliament, two of whose members are supporting a petition which would involve attempting to use the Lisbon Treaty to have abortion recognised as a human right throughout the European Union. The petition is being promoted by the ‘Make Noise for Free Choice’ campaign, instigated by Birgitta Ohlsson, a Swedish MP, who has described the legal situation in Ireland with regard to abortion as ‘medieval and terrifying’. Ms. Ohlsson’s initiative specifically targets Ireland, Malta and Poland, and says that the governments of all countries where abortion is not available ‘must be put under pressure’, adding that the EU ‘should work to make the right to an abortion a human right.’
A Cóir (the pro-sovereignty group) spokesman stated: ‘We’re constantly being told by the Irish government that the EU has no interest in our social laws, but this development shows that politicians in EU member states want to use EU law – including the Lisbon Treaty – to attack Ireland’s pro-life ethos.’
Irish MEPs, the majority of whom voted for the Catania Report (which calls for the widespread provision of abortion) in the European Parliament earlier this year, are naturally worried that news of Ms. Ohlsson’s petition will militate against their aim to have the signing of the Lisbon Treaty ratified by the Irish people in a second referendum in October. ‘This is likely to cause confusion for the public’, one of the Irish MEPs is quoted as saying. At the same time, one of Britain’s MEPs, who is a supporter of the petition and who also strongly supports the Lisbon Treaty, said that, ‘I understand that mischief will be made about this and I want it to be made clear that anything I say should not be linked to the Yes campaign in Ireland.’ Really?
Meanwhile, groups supporting the Lisbon Treaty are popping up all over the place in Ireland. I wonder where all their money is coming from?
