A conference with the title ‘Every Life Matters’ took place
on Monday February 24th. in Belfast. The conference which was held
the Long Gallery in Stormont was an initiative of the all party pro-life
committee in Northern Ireland’s Assembly and was sponsored by Pat Ramsey MLA
and JIM Wells MLA.
The conference was opened by Pat Ramsey who told the meeting
that the all party committee had been in existence for 10 years and that the
issues being dealt with would serve to inform parliamentarians for future discussion
on the abortion issue.
The meeting was shown videos dealing with the loss
of babies lives
due to fatal abnormalities
and was addressed by three parents
who
experienced
tragic losses, Cliona
Johnson from Dublin, Ryan Gamble and Derbhille McGill from Northern Ireland.
Cliona Johnson’s baby boy John Paul who had been diagnosed
with anencephaly lived for 17 minutes after birth surrounded by his family and
those who loved him. He was theirs for a time only and his short life, both in
the womb and after birth, was celebrated by his family. John Paul’s mother
Cliona spoke about the precious moments with him and the love he brought to
everyone
in the family.
Ryan Gamble spoke about the three days spent with his son
Rory. ‘The three days we had with our son Rory completely changed our lives
forever’ Ryan told the meeting. Ryan then explained that Rory had not moved a
muscle for the three days of his life but just before he died he reached out
his hand towards his dad. Rory’s short life has touched people all over the
world and Ryan has now formed a Charity in his memory called tennis ministries.
Derbhille McGill shared the moving story of her little baby
daughter - Clodagh - who was diagnosed in the womb with having a fatal
disability, Trisomy 13, and was told her baby would die before, or soon after
birth. Little Clodagh lived for 33 days and was a great blessing to her family
during her short life. 
One of the significant issues evident from the three
testimonies was the different levels of care in the different institutions and
the importance of establishing properly constituted peri-natal hospice
care 
