Monday, June 10, 2013

Ireland's largest ever pro-life gathering


Irelands largest pro-life vigil so far took place on Saturday last June 8th when a record number of people attended the National Vigil for Life in Dublin to demonstrate that the majority is opposed to the government’s plans to introduce abortion. The Vigil in Merrion Square was the largest pro-life demonstration ever seen in Ireland with attendance in excess of 40,000.
In the words of one young woman delighted with the turnout, ‘surely the Government must listen now’.
The vigil was addressed by a number of pro-life individuals from various groups
Caroline Simons of PLC told the meeting;
“The Government must stop misrepresenting its proposed abortion legislation as restrictive and face up to the dangers in its abortion plan.
The turnout today shows that the middle ground of Irish opinion is increasingly concerned about the Government’s abortion legislation, there are people here who never attended a pro-life event before. The message is getting through that this legislation is not restrictive or about saving women and children’s lives, despite the repeated claims by the Taoiseach and his Government.”

“It’s time for the spin to stop. The medical profession is radically divided over this because there is nothing evidence-based about the claim that abortion can be the right response to a suicide threat,” Simons said. “People’s trust in politicians would “suffer badly the more it appears that the Government is giving false reassurances.”

“It’s clear from who’s cheer-leading this bill what it’s really about,” she said, “and that’s abortion on request. This is inevitable, once a suicide threat is the basis for certifying an abortion.”

Other speakers to address the event were Jennifer Kehoe, Maria Steen and Íde Nic Mathúna and John Mc Areavey.