Spiritual Crusade for the defence of unborn life

It is abundantly clear that the entire process leading up to the decision to hold a referendum was weighted in favour of a pro-abortion agenda. It was also abundantly clear, to anyone who was watching, that pro-life arguments have been ignored, rubbished or stifled however we are determined to oppose this one-sided process and to get the truth to every household in Ireland and to every citizen, prior to the May Referendum. Many groups and individuals are committed to door to door canvassing to spread the word.

For our part we believe that it is not appropriate in any civilised society to cast votes on who should live and who should die, accordingly we have launched various initiatives to oppose this appalling  culture of death and to uphold the right to life of unborn babies 

First we prepared an explanatory video in conjunction with the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC)  which can be found on this link

Apart from the necessity of door to door canvassing the task before us is in our opinion primarily a spiritual battle so we launched our first Spiritual Crusade last year. This consisted of a 54 day fast which commenced on November 1st and finished on Christmas Eve with six nominated people fasting for 9 days each on a water only fast Others were invited to join in prayer and fasting for the protection of unborn life and the retention of the 8th Amendment.

Hundreds of people from all over Ireland North and South, the UK, Canada and the US joined with to pray for the protection of the unborn. We Completed our first Spiritual Crusade with a pro-life Mass in the Church of St Kevin Harrington Street Dublin on the Feast of the Holy Innocents.

We are now commencing our second Spiritual Crusade our lenten campaign beginning on Ash Wednesday and finishing at Easter.
We hope to finish this second Spiritual Crusade with Mass in St Kevins In Harrington Street  on the Feast of the Annunciation which will be celebrated this year on Monday April 9th.

Commentary on the non-applicability of the recent Northern Ireland judgement on abortion to the Republic of Ireland

Liam Gibson, the Northern Ireland representative for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, has prepared a commentary on the recent Horner judgement with respect to the Republic of Ireland.
This is a very timely commentary as it is likely that the judgement will be cited by pro-abortion organisations and politicians in the lead up to the coming general election.

Why the Horner judgement cannot be used to change the law in the Republic of Ireland.
The salient points of Liam's commentary are included below.

1. The ruling by Mr Justice Horner that abortion laws in Northern Ireland are incompatible with the European Convention was not based on his interpretation of the Convention. Instead he claimed that the Northern Ireland law, unlike the law in the Republic, does not recognise the right to life of the unborn child. (This claim is untrue but was based entirely on UK law. Not only can his judgement not apply to the Republic, he actually set out to use the law in the South to undermine the law in the Six Counties.)

2. He acknowledged that the Strasbourg Court of Human Rights did not find the Republic’s law, which prohibits abortion on grounds of fatal anomaly and rape, to be incompatible with the Convention. (In A B & C v Ireland the court said that C had been prevented from obtaining an abortion that would have been lawful because her life was threatened and therefore her rights were violated.)

3. Horner cited various English cases, including Paton v UK and Re MB, to claim that unlike the Republic, under English law the foetus had no right to life. He then claimed that the situation in Northern Ireland was the same as England by pretending that the absence of the Abortion Act in Northern Ireland made no difference.

4. He explicitly pointed to the differences between the law in the Republic and the North:

• The Eighth Amendment recognised the right to life before birth with the purpose of  preventing the legalisation of abortion;
• The Eighth Amendment was adopted by popular vote; 
• As Strasbourg said in Open Door v Ireland, it was based on the profound moral views of the Irish people on the nature of life; 
• No one knows what the people of the North think about the subject. (He was either ignorant of or disregarded the public consultation which took place less than12 months earlier which overwhelmingly rejected a change in the law.)

5. The Convention requires restrictions on the Article 8 right to privacy to be, among other things, proportionate to their aim. He argued that since the foetus has no right to life, punishing abortion with life imprisonment was disproportionate and therefore violated the Convention when it prohibited abortion in the circumstances he approved of, that is, fatal abnormality and rape. (He should have recognised that the severity of the sentence reflected the high regard in which the foetus is held. The 1861 Act and the 1945 Act require life imprisonment precisely because abortion deprives the unborn child of his life.)

6. Mr Justice Horner did not claim that the Convention recognises a human right to abortion so the Republic does not have to change its law. He acknowledged that Art 40.3.3 prevents the legalisation in the Republic of abortion on the grounds he dealt with and that this is entirely compatible with human rights. The Horner judgement only confirms the importance of the Eighth Amendment and pro-lifers must fight to keep it in the Constitution.

The full text of the commentary can be provided. Please contact Patrick Buckley on the following e-mail address. patrick@europeanlifenetwork.org
 

Bishop Kevin Doran says Christians must make protection of unborn children an election issue

Bishop Kevin Doran of the Diocese of Elphin, in his homily delivered on World Peace Day, January 1st., made reference throughout the homily to Ireland's upcoming general election and it was particularly heartening to read the part of his statement that refers to protection of unborn babies.

We are in complete agreement with Bishop Kevin when he says that committed Christians must make this an election issue and that candidates must be questioned politely but firmly, not just on their future intentions but on their past record.

The extract from Bishop Kevin's homily is set out below and the full text of his statement can be found on this link

There has been a lot of political posturing about repealing the eighth amendment, which is the only remaining protection unborn children have in our legal system. That protection has already been significantly eroded in recent years. I believe that committed Christians must make this an election issue and that candidates must be questioned politely but firmly, not just on their future intentions but on their past record. These are, after all, your children and your grand-children.

Renua general election manifesto

Whilst the date of the upcoming general election has not yet been set, Renua, the new political party is first out of the traps in announcing its manifesto. See RTE report

Pro-lifers had great hopes of this party as it was set up by Lucinda Creighton who stood by her convictions and voted against the pro-abortion, Protection of Life in Pregnancy, legislation at the high personal cost of ejection from the Fine Gael parliamentary party and loss of her ministerial post prior to setting up the new party

There was considerable dismay in pro-life and pro-family circles however at Ms. Creighton’s statement in February 2015 prior to the same sex marriage referendum that she was a supporter of the marriage equality referendum and she intended to vote in favour of it.

Ms Creighton in presenting the Renua manifesto at a press conference claimed no party would have a clear-cut majority after the election and the question voters had to ask was "who would be their watchdog in government?".  

The new manifesto concentrates on tax reform and other political issues but  the meeting was told By Ms. Creighton that that the party would not be taking a view on the question of liberalising abortion legislation and that there were other social issues facing the electorate.

Clearly there are different opinions in the new party on the pro-life issue.

On a show of hands 14 of the eighteen party members indicated they opposed removal of the 8^th amendment (the pro-life amendment) from the constitution.

The good news is that 14 out of the 18  Renua party members standing for election appear to be pro-life.

Pro-abortion forces demand removal of remaining protection of unborn life in Ireland

We reported in June that relentless pressure is being exerted by pro abortion forces, in the lead up to the next general election in Ireland, to remove Ireland’s remaining protection for unborn babies.

This pressure is primarily being targeted at the government parties, other political parties and groups and even County Councils.

Taoiseach Enda Kenny, in response to the pressure is reported to have said that Fine Gael’s election manifesto will not commit to holding a referendum on removing the 8th Amendment from the Constitution.

The Labour Party the juniour member of the current coalition has on the other hand signalled it will insist on an abortion referendum if it is to return to Government with Mr Kenny’s party.

The Independent reports that Kenny, speaking at a recent Fine Gael ‘think in’, in Limerick told the media he is not in “favour of abortion on demand” but is open to listening to arguments for changing the current laws governing abortion.

“I have no intention of abolishing the 8th Amendment without considering what it might be that might replace it and that means more than any other sensitive issue. I am quite prepared to listen to people who have contributions to make in that regard,” he said.

He added: "But believe me, to commit to abolishing the 8th Amendment without consideration of what you might do is not on my radar."

When pushed Mr Kenny insisted he was not committing to “any referendum”.

"Fine Gael in the preparation of its own Fine Gael programme will consider this matter very carefully along with a number of other sensitive issues as well,” he added.

The pressure being exerted at County Council level resulted this week in a significant defeat for the pro-abortion lobby in Limerick .

According to an article in the Limerick Leader, county councillors voted by almost two to one against a motion calling for a referendum to repeal the eighth - or “right to life” - amendment in the constitution.

The motion was defeated by 23 votes to 12. There were five councillors absent.

Take note that Taoiseach Enda Kenny said he is willing to listen to people who have contributions to make so let's ensure that he gets those contributions. He can be contacted at, taoiseach@taoiseach.gov.ie 

Relentless pressure from pro abortion forces to remove Ireland’s remaining protection for unborn babies

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There have been a number of attempts since the passing of the current government’s pro-abortion legislation, The Protection of Life in Pregnancy Act, to increase access to abortion in Ireland.  Socialist TD’s (members of parliament) Clare Daly and Ruth Coppinger have made several attempts to introduce private members bills, either to remove the pro life amendment to the Constitution, or to widen the scope of the government legislation, in order to to kill unborn babies with fetal abnormalities and/or those conceived in rape.

In the wake of the disasterous result in the same sex marriage referendum, pro-abortion forces, buoyed up by that result, have continued to pressure Ireland’s coalition government to remove the pro-life amendment, Article 40.3.3.

The Irish Government, whilst indicating it was not against the idea of a referendum on the issue, has refused to do so this year as all political parties are now gearing up for a general election which must be held by the middle of next year.  Health  Minister Leo Varadkar made this clear recently when he told the Dail that a referendum to remove the 1983 pro-life amendment from the Constitution would be a matter for the next Dáil.

Apart from political pressure from within the country pressure is also being placed on the Government by UN Committees despite the fact that there is no such human right as a right to abortion, and the that International UN treaties protect the lives of all human beings including the unborn.

The most recent attempt to pressurise Ireland came from the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR).

The CESCR in it concluding observations, on the third periodic report of Ireland to the Committee, E/C.12/IRL/CO/3, said that the Committee is concerned at what they termed to be ‘Ireland’s highly restrictive legislation on abortion and strict interpretation thereof’.

The Committee recommended that Ireland,

“take all necessary steps, including a referendum on abortion, to revise its legislation on abortion, including the Constitution and the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013, in line with international human rights standards; adopt guidelines to clarify what constitutes a real substantive risk to the life of a pregnant woman; publicize information on crisis pregnancy options through effective channels of communication; and ensure the accessibility and availability of information on sexual and reproductive health.”

This Committee has a tendency to treat national laws with contempt as they issue instructions to countries under review to change their laws and policies on abortion, regardless of the fact the the Convention on Economic Social and Cultural Rights never mentions abortion. 

Treaty body mandates create a narrow role for treaty bodies such as the CESCR and those bodies cannot exceed the scope of the authority set forth in the treaty itself.  Specifically, committee recommendations, such as this, issued by treaty bodies are not binding on States Parties because such recommendations and comments are not part of the actual negotiated language of the treaty.

Moreover, treaty bodies do not have the authority to interpret or reinterpret treaties.  Authoritative interpretations of treaties are reserved to States Parties collectively.  Many diplomats have privately expressed concern that these treaty bodies have grossly exceeded their authority in recent years.

The Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties (VCLT) sets out interpretive norms for all treaties. The VCLT in Article 31 says:  "A treaty shall be interpreted in good faith in accordance with the ordinary meaning (emphasis added) to be given to the terms of the treaty in their context and in light of its object and purpose."   In other words, attention must be paid to the actual text of the treaty and, as an aid to interpretation, to its surrounding context. 

26 babies aborted under Ireland's abortion law

Ireland’s Minister for Health Leo Varadkar confirmed today that 26 babies were aborted under the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act. Under the new law Minister Varadkar is obliged to issue an annual report  detailing the number of abortions carried out in Irish hospitals. See Department of Health news release and reports by the IrishTimes and Journal.ie

The information detailing the number of abortions during the first year of operation of the legislation which emanated from the Health Service Executive (HSE) confirms that three abortions were carried out when the mother’s life was deemed at risk due to suicidal ideation. The figures also show that 14 terminations were carried out due to the risk from physical illness, with nine based on an emergency from physical illness.

It is not clear whether thes figures include the case of the baby born to Miss Y who was delivered live at 24 wweks by caesarean section after she was deemed suicidal under Section 9 of the Act.

The Protection of Life during Pregnancy Act (2013) marked a radical change in Ireland's abortion law. It repealed the comprehensive protection of unborn children under the Offences Against the Person Act (1861) and in addition stripped the right to life from children before, and even during, birth in a broad range of circumstances. The numerous inconsistencies and ill-defined terms (eg "good faith", "reasonable opinion" and "due regard")  create limitations to the  protection unborn babies under the Act.

Referendum on so called same sex marriage in Ireland.

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The Irish Government has been campaigning strongly for a ‘Yes’ vote in the upcoming referendum on marriage which has been given the misleading title of ‘Marriage Equality ‘. The referendum however is not about equality and the government focus on equality distorts the reality. This is about the creation of new rights and if it is passed will have very grave consequences for our nation.

Many people are confused about marriage and think it is merely for the public recognition of committed relationships for the benefit of adults.

That is not what marriage is, but what it will actually become under the law if it is redefined.

Marriage in reality is much more than a committed relationship. Marriage not only unites a man and a woman with each other, but with any children born from their union. That expresses the fullness of what marriage is. It is a community of life and love.  This is a fact that can only be recognized and never changed. It already presumes procreation, complementarity, motherhood and fatherhood.

The three requirements for marriage are that it is unitive, procreative and indissoluble. This factual description expresses irreplaceability, and permanence, Not every married man and woman has children, but every child has a mother and father. With insertion of the word “any” even the possibility of the heartbreak of infertility is accounted for. It is the only true definition of marriage

Justice and Equality Minister Frances Fitzgerald in her statement announcing the referendum said: “People will be asked to decide whether the following new wording should be added to the Constitution: ‘Marriage may be contracted in accordance with law by two persons without distinction as to their sex'.”

Irish Foreign Affairs Minister Charles Flanagan told the Human Rights Council in Geneva in March that ‘it is one of the greatest shames of the modern world that States continue to deny individuals their human rights because of who they are or whom they love.’

Minister Flanagan the shame is on you and your colleagues for your blatant rejection of the truth and beauty of human sexuality expressed through the committed love of  men and women for one another.  Your actions will undermine the family, attack the rights of parents in the moral education of their children, and attack freedom of religion, as has happenned in other countries where same sex marriage has been introduced. Take for example the Court ruling in Lexington Massachusetts, which ruled that schools are permitted teach about homosexuality without parents consent or even a right to remove their children from the class. In the lead up to the case one parent was arrested because he objected to the indoctrination of his son.

The major push is to indoctrinate the next generation and the way it will be done is through so-called comprehensive sexuality education.

Our children are precious and we need to protect them from early sexualisation.

  

We as Christians are all called to love one another but that does not mean that we uncritically accept the actions of others without comment. Real love resides in expressing the truth in all situations because it is the truth that sets us free. In truth marriage is between one man and one woman and cannot be extended to others, anything else is a sham.

Marriage is the foundation stone of the family and is recognised in the Irish Constitution in Article 41 which declares that: the State recognises the family as the natural, primary and fundamental unit group of society and as and as a moral institution possessing inalienable and imprescriptible rights, antecedent and superior to all positive law. It also says that: The State, therefore, guarantees to protect the Family in its constitution and authority, as the necessary basis of social order and as indispensable to the welfare of the Nation and the State. 

The Universal Declaration on Human Rights is also very explicit and article 16 tells us: Men and women of full age, without any limitation due to race, nationality or religion, have the right to marry and to found a family.

Article 16 also tells us that: ‘The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.’

The Irish Constitution was enacted, ‘In the Name of the Most Holy Trinity, from Whom is all authority and to Whom, as our final end, all actions both of men and States must be referred.’ Has it not occurred to our political leaders, Taoiseach Enda Kenny together with Ministers Flanagan, Fitzgerald and Labour leader Joan Burton that what is proposed is directly flouting God’s law and it is adding insult to injury by proposing the inclusion of such an abomination in the text of our Constitution dedicated to the Most Holy Trinity.  

Taoiseach, when future generations evaluate your words and actions the lasting shame will be on you and your colleagues for your blatant rejection of God’s Commandments and for kow-towing to so called political correctness at the expense of genuine marriage and the family.

It is to be hoped that the Irish electorate will have more sense than you do and will not approve this outrage.

Cynical pro-abortion campaign targeted babies with life limiting conditions

The private members bill introduced by Clare Daly, in an attempt to expand availability of abortion in Ireland to include babies with life limiting conditions, was defeated on Tuesday by 104 votes to 20.  It would be foolish to take comfort from the result on the basis that the government could not vote in favour of a bill they had been advised was unconstitutional.

This was a cynical move by pro-abortion forces and a compliant media in manipulating public opinion. Clare Daly knew perfectly well that her private members bill was unconstitutional and could not be accepted by the Government in the absence of a referendum. The bill was designed to take aim at 40.3.3 of the Irish constitution with a view to putting pressure the Irish Government to hold a referendum.

There is no doubt that Daly mounted an effective campaign judging by the fact that many of those who voted against it expressed sympathy with its objectives, including the Minister for Health Leo Varadkar.  Three members of the Fianna Fail party also voted for it, including the health and justice spokesmen.

There is growing pressure from the pro-abortion side to remove Article 40.3.3 from the Irish Constitution which would inevitably lead to abortion on demand. Taoiseach Enda Kenny however says he is not prepared to have another divisive abortion referendum at the present time. It is likely however to be an issue in the next election and afterwards.

Daly argued the bill on compassionate grounds but everyone knows she supports abortion on demand up to birth and will do everything possible to further her deadly agenda.

Daly’s approach ignores the hundreds of women who decide to give life a chance and allow their babies to live as long as they possibly can.  It is also very hurtful to such women when Daly and her colleagues describe their babies as ‘non-viable’ and ‘incompatible with life’.

Sadly the unfortunate women who had been encouraged to terminate the lives of unborn babies suffering from life limiting conditions were used in the process.

New demands for referendum in Ireland to remove all remaining protection for the unborn

Clare Daly TD in a private members Bill launched a new attack on Ireland’s remaining pro-life protection. Daly called for the repeal the 8th amendment in order to expand access to abortion in Ireland.

The eighth amendment of the Constitution, voted on in 1983, acknowledges the right to life of the unborn, equating it with the mother’s right to life. The amendment says:

"The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right."

During the debate Health Minister Leo Varakdar indicated his support for a future abortion referendum and said that the Eighth Amendment to the Constitutional dealing with abortion is too “restrictive” and is having a “chilling” effect on doctors, but inexplicably claims that he is pro-life and not in favour of abortion on demand.

It seems that the Minister has either swallowed pro-abortion rhetoric hook, line and sinker or he is playing fast and loose with the truth. Whilst proclaiming that he is pro-life he has declared his support for exactly what the pro-abortionists are currently seeking.

Sadly national debate on the issue has relegated the unfortunate baby to being a non-person and seeks to remove the small modicum of protection left to him/her. 

See report in the Irish Independent

Ireland to hold referendum on same sex 'marriage' in May

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The Irish government has announced that it will proceed with a referendum on same sex 'marriage', which will be called the Marriage Equality Bill

Taoiseach Enda Kenny confirmed in Dail Eireann that the Cabinet had given approval for the referendum to take place along with a second referendum on lowering age for presidential candidates.

"The Cabinet gave approval to hold the referenda, and both referenda will happen on the one day in the month of May 2015. The Government did not fix a final date," he said. 

Mr Kenny added that Frances Fitzgerald, the justice minister, will come back to the Dail when she has finalised her proposals in relation to the Marriage Equality Bill.

Kenny also said the Government would move to create a Referendum Commission to oversee the holding of the two referendums.

Tanaiste Joan Burton leader of the Labour Party said the decision was a "very positive and progressive development".

Speaking at the launch of a campaign in support of marriage and the family earlier this month  Bishop Liam Mac Daid and Bishop Kevin Doran, set out the teaching of the Church on the issue. 

Allowing same-sex marriage would be a “grave injustice” and a disservice to society, according to members of a representative body for Catholic bishops in Ireland.

The Catholic Bishops of Ireland in anticipation of the Government move recently published a leaflet entitled "The Meaning of Marriage".

The statement and information on it can be found on this link

“The view of marriage as being between man and a woman and for life, that’s not something which is particular to Catholics and Christians. There are people of all kinds of other religious beliefs, and of none, who believe in that,” said Bishop Liam MacDaid of Clogher, who is chair of the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference council for marriage.

 “To put any other view of marriage on the same level as Christian marriage would be a disservice to society rather than a service,” added Bishop MacDaid, who was flanked by fellow bishop Kevin Doran of Elphin following a two-day winter conference in St Patrick’s College.

“While there’s sort of an assumption that this referendum [passing] is a no-brainer, in some societies the legislature has legislated for same-sex marriage, but in other societies- almost everywhere there has been a same-sex referendum- it has been rejected… Our hope would be that the referendum would be defeated,” said Bishop Doran, who courted publicity last week for his concessionary stance on inheritance rights for same-sex couples.

New abortion controversy in Ireland

The Independent reports on a new and controversial case in Ireland in which a woman was refused an abortion under Ireland’s new abortion laws and that her baby was subsequently prematurely delivered at 25 weeks by Caesarean section.

According to some reports the woman was a foreign national, an asylum seeker, who was already pregnant when she arrived in Ireland in April. The termination took place in the second trimester of the pregnancy resulting in the baby being born at 25 weeks.

The woman who is reported to have sought an abortion under the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act, 2013 claimed to be suicidal and was assessed by a panel of experts as set out in the legislation.

The panel of experts apparently differed on the question of abortion as the child had already reached viability, resulting in a decision to deliver the baby by caesarean section.

It has also been reported that the Bishop of Elphin, Kevin Doran, whilst agreeing that it is better that the child is still alive has raised pertinent questions about the consequences of the early delivery of the baby

He told the Irish Independent: "The removal of a child from the womb in that kind of context is really unethical and there is no other way of putting it. It was far better that the child was removed from the womb to be saved than to be aborted, but it is not natural."

The Master of the Rotunda Hospital, Sam Coulter Smith said the baby will face enormous’ health challenges and has just a 20-30pc chance of growing up without any health issues.

 “I think the challenges are enormous. A baby born at 24 or 25 weeks is going to spend a long period of time in neonatal intensive care”, he told Sean O’Rourke on Radio One this morning.

He also commented on the likely cost to the health service which he said would probably be in the order of €60-90k,

The baby according to Smith will probably stay for 15 or 16 weeks in intensive care. “Most of these babies will survive, 80-90pc of them will survive. - but only 20 -30 pc will have intact survival.” He added that many of the babies will grow up with significant health problems.