European Life Network in a submission to the Citizens' Assembly has appealed for the retention of the 8th amendment and has included a link to the video prepared in conjunction with the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children as set out below
Appeal
to uphold and cherish the 8th Amendment: with video link
European Life
Network calls on the Citizens’ Assembly to uphold the 8th Amendment and reject
all attempts to legalise the killing of unborn children. In support of this
appeal, we have prepared a video presentation (produced in partnership with the
Society for the Protection of Unborn Children) featuring Irish people, and
people of Irish descent, with specialised knowledge and personal experience of
these issues. We ask the Assembly to view this video, available here:
https://www.spuc.org.uk/news/videos/new/2016/november/act-now-protect-ireland-pro-life-8th-amendment
Despite false
claims, the 8th Amendment simply recognises that unborn babies have a right to
life equal to that of their mothers. Ireland’s maternal health record, among
the best in the world, also reflects the fact that Irish doctors are trained to
treat a mother and her unborn child as two equal patients.
In this
presentation, Raymond Cardinal Burke argues that a clause similar to the 8th
Amendment should be in the constitution of every nation. He notes the
dedication of Ireland’s Constitution to “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”. Through this
dedication, Ireland provides a great example of a correctly ordered society.
Dr Patrick Fagan
(Director of Marriage and Religion Research Institute) argues that when a
nation starts to eliminate pain and suffering by eliminating people, there is
no logical place to draw a line. Even limited relaxation of abortion law leads
inevitably to widespread abortion. In the UK, the Abortion Act 1967, was not
intended to introduce abortion on demand. Fifty years on, more than 8.4 million
babies have been aborted.
Evidence shows that
abortion is physically and psychologically damaging, no matter where it takes
place. Bernadette Goulding (Director of Rachel’s Vineyard, Ireland) who had an abortion
herself, describes the trauma millions of women around the world
have experienced following abortion.
Former
MEP’s Dana Rosemary Scallon
and Kathy Sinnott highlight the huge international pressure on Ireland to
introduce abortion.
Kathy Sinnott
contrasts the terminal decline of European states as a result of low birthrates
with the situation in Ireland. The repeal of the 8th Amendment would propel
Ireland towards a similar demographic collapse. She also argues that seeking to
dispose of children with life-limiting conditions or serious disabilities is
modern day eugenics.
Rebecca Kiessling,
who was conceived in a violent rape, challenges the inherent injustice of
punishing innocent babies for the crimes of their biological fathers.
Cliona Johnson tells
the heart-rending story of her son John Paul who lived 17 minutes after birth.
Their story offers a truthful and inspiring account of authentic compassion for
the most vulnerable of all – unborn babies deemed “incompatible with life”.
Finally, the video
calls on the Irish diaspora to speak out now and to encourage the nation to
maintain its pro-life culture that is identified and admired worldwide.
