An interesting piece by David Quinn appeared in the Irish Independent newspaper recently. Quinn writes that as he was on his way in to Mass he saw the local Fine Gael and Labour candidates, as is their wont, canvassing outside the church. He continues:
‘The presence of the Labour candidate struck me as odd, to put it mildly. Labour party policy is pro-abortion. Therefore, on a very important issue Labour is utterly at variance with the beliefs of the vast majority of serious-minded practising Catholics….‘I’ve been amazed in the last few weeks at the number of practising Catholics I’ve come across who are considering voting for Labour. Given that Labour is pro-abortion, how do they justify this? …‘It turns out a lot of them haven’t the first clue about Labour’s position on abortion. Amazing, but true. They don’t know, for example that Labour wants to legislate for the X case ruling of 1992.‘That ruling allows for abortion, and furthermore, it permits abortion simply on the say-so of a medical practitioner – it doesn’t have to be a doctor or psychiatrist – who is willing to say that his or her patient is suicidal.‘In addition, Eamon Gilmore favours abortion where the “health” of the mother is in danger. In practice, this would replicate in Ireland the British abortion law. In Britain, abortion is permitted where a woman’s life or health is at risk. Health includes mental health. In practice, this translates into abortion-on-demand.‘Gilmore favours this policy despite the fact that Ireland is the safest place in the world for a woman to have a baby, according to World Health Organisation figures.‘And from a Catholic and Christian point of view, it is not only Labour’s stance on abortion that is problematic. It favours same-sex marriage and same-sex adoption. …‘Some Catholics I’ve come across seem to think Labour doesn’t really mean it. Sorry, it does. If it gets a chance – and that will be up to FG – we will have abortion in this country. …‘At a minimum, neither Fine Gael nor Fianna Fail is setting out to do harm to the poor and the sick, whereas Labour’s policy on abortion would do very deliberate harm to the unborn. That is not a prudential judgement. That is a fact.’
A Catholic may not, in conscience, vote for an anti-life or an anti-family candidate, so David Quinn’s warning is a timely one.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if our Bishops were to speak out in a similar manner – there is very little time left for them to do so. However, if a number of people were to contact them, Cardinal Brady in particular, there might be a public statement to the effect that no Catholic may vote for a Labour Party candidate, nor for a Green Party candidate either. With regard to Fine Gael – a public commitment to oppose any proposals for the legalising of abortion, or same-sex ‘marriage’, would help. The leader of Fianna Fáil, as Minister for Health, has a history of promoting and facilitating the destruction of human embryos.
