The war on Ireland's unborn has entered a new and deadly phase

We reported in June and October 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 the lives of unborn babies.

Now that it is clear that the next general election will be held in spring 2016 this pressure is becoming even more relentless.

Minister for Children James Reilly on Sunday Nov 22nd called for a referendum on the issue to take place early in the next Dáil term. Reilly called for the next government to move quickly to repeal the 8th Amendment, which gives equal rights to the life of the mother and that of the unborn.

The Irish Independent reports that Taoiseach Enda Kenny was furious at Reilly’s intervention and gave him a severe dressing down prior to the Cabinet meeting yesterday.  With an eye on being returned to power after the next election neither Kenny nor his Finance Minister Michael Noonan wanted the issue of abortion, the taking of unborn human life, to influence their campaign or to cause further strains in the Fine Gael Party, bearing in mind that five TDs and three senators, including then minister Lucinda Creighton, were forced to resign from Fine Gael in 2013 for voting against the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill.

Reilly’s intervention according to the Irish Independent  caused a bitter split among Fine Gael Cabinet ministers over the party's approach to the divisive issue of the taking of unborn life and forced Mr Kenny to assure his parliamentary party that, in the event of a referendum to repeal the pro-life amendment, TDs and senators would be permitted vote in accordance with their conscience.

Kenny  also said the Fine Gael manifesto will not commit to a repeal of the Eighth Amendment instead it would pledge to refer the issue to a 'Citizens Convention', which is clearly a prelude to taking a decision to hold a referendum on the issue.

Meanwhile Labour Women has made clear that seeking a referendum to remove the remaining protection of the unborn from the Irish Constitution will be a major plank of the Labour Parties general election campaign.

Labour Women commenced its campaign with the publication of draft anti life legislation they hope will replace the pro-life amendment if they succeed in repealing it.

The draft legislation published by Labour Women would allow for killing unborn babies on grounds of: risk to life of the mother, risk to health of the mother, rape and foetal abnormality. In short it is a recipe for abortion on demand

No one should be under any illusion about the issue, a major battle about the rights of the unborn has already begun and everything must be done to protect all unborn life. 

Not only should article 40.3.3, the 28^th amendment to the Irish Constitution remain, to ensure that the lives of all unborn babies be given constitutional protection, it is also essential for pro-life organizations to seek the strengthening of the existing amendment to counteract the effects of recent pro-abortion legislation.We must take the initiative away from the anti life forces and demand full and unambiguous protection for all unborn babies.

WHO report shows substantial reduction in Maternal Mortality Rates

According to a  new report “Maternal Mortality 1990-2015”, issued by the World Health Organization (WHO) in conjunction with UNICEF, UNFPA,  the World Bank Group and the United Nations Population Division, maternal deaths dropped sharply in past 25 years.
WHO estimates that the global maternal mortality ratio (MMR–maternal deaths per 100,000 live births) dropped 43% between 1990 and 2015, from an estimated level of about 532,000 in 1990 to a new lower and also estimated level of 303,000 in 2015. This shows an MMR reduction of 169, from a level 385 in 1990 to 216 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
The report acknowledges that accurate measurement of maternal mortality levels is still a significant challenge.

COMMENT
The drop in the MMR estimates is most likely attributable to the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s). MDG. 5A sought to reduce maternal mortality by 75% between 1990 and 2015. It is evident from the report that this target was not met, in that only nine countries managed to reduce their MMR level to the 75% target, although the report makes it clear that significant progress was made towards achieving it.

Despite this progress however the latest MMR estimate contained in the 2015 report is 303,000. The majority of these (99%) occurred in developing regions, 66% of which occurred in sub-Saharan Africa.

The MDG 15 year programme was replaced in September 2015 by a new programme known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s) and the post 2015 agenda which now aims to reduce the global MMR to 70 by 2030. This is certainly possible but only if the focus is placed on the measures that actually save lives.

Most maternal deaths can be prevented with adequate nutrition, basic health care, and good obstetric care throughout pregnancy, at delivery and postpartum.
The decline in maternal mortality rates in the developed world coincided “with the development of obstetric techniques and improvement in the general health status of women” (from 1935 to the 1950s), according to the World Health Organization (WHO)[i]  This took place well before the widespread legalization of abortion.

To reduce maternal mortality, we must strive to give women in the developing world access to the same standard of care that has been available to women in the developed world for decades—care that results in a healthy outcome for both mother and baby.

It is also clear from the new report that pro-abortion demands that abortion should be legalized in order to reduce maternal mortality are absurd. Contrary to the claims of organizations advocating so called safe legal abortion, no direct relationship exists between the legal status of abortion and maternal mortality rates. Indeed, abortion can be legal but unsafe for women. It is of course always unsafe for the unfortunate baby. Ireland, Poland, Malta, Chile, Kuwait, Libya, and the United Arab Emirates ban most or all abortions and have very low MMR's.

The main outstanding issue in respect of the SDG’s and the post 2015 agenda is the agreement of indicators which will be used as bench marks for the implementation of the SDG’s. A preliminary report on the indicators was issued by the sustainable development solutions network in June 2015 and some model indicators have recently been proposed. Careful monitoring of this process is essential as there are already significant problems with the report and the model indicators but in addition there have been a number of submissions by pro-abortion agencies and NGO’s in an attempt to further radicalise the indicators.

[i] World Health Organization, Maternal Mortality: A Global Factbook (Geneva: World Health Organization, 1991). 


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 

Irish Examiner survey on attitudes to abortion.

A survey of attitudes on abortion, carried out in the farming community in conjunction with one of Ireland’s farming organisations, the ICMSA, was published in the Irish Examiner on Sept 22nd. According to the survey, 64% of farmers favour amendment of Article 40.3.3, to allow for abortion on wider grounds. 34% of respondents said they were opposed to any changes to the Amendment and 2% of respondents chose the ‘don’t know’ option. The question was framed as follows: “The 8th Amendment to the Constitution granted equal rights to the mother and her unborn child. Do you think it should be amended to allow for abortion in certain circumstances or not?”

This survey was carried out following blatant media reporting bias on the issue during recent weeks which appears to be aimed at persuading political parties to include removal of the pro-life amendment from the constitution in their political manifestos in the run up to the upcoming general election.

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.