End of Year Round-Up: Pro-Life Highs and Lows of 2024

2024 was a very eventful and consequential year pro-life movement, both nationally and internationally.

Below, we touch on some of the main developments that happened during the year, reflecting on the highs and lows for the pro-life movement, as we prepare for the New Year and recommit to working even harder for the cause of life.

1. Lots to celebrate in recent election results

In November, 32 TDs with publicly declared pro-life positions were elected to Dáil Éireann.

Among the newly elected TDs are Paul Lawless of Aontú and Ken O’Flynn of Independent Ireland who are well known for their vocal defence of unborn human life.

There will be more pro-life TDs in the new Dáil than were elected last time round – a clear sign of the progress being made.

Proving that voters are very comfortable supporting pro-life candidates, several well-known pro-life TDs topped the poll in their respective constituencies, including Mattie McGrath, Carol Nolan, Michael Collins, Sean Canney, Michael Healy-Rae, John McGuinness and Michael Fitzmaurice.

In the Local Elections held in June, 73 pro-life candidates were elected to City and County Councils across Ireland, an increase from just over 50 in the 2019 Local Elections. The results are further proof that pro-life elected representatives are becoming a sufficiently strong political presence to, at a minimum, push for changes focussed on reducing Ireland’s soaring abortion rate.

It’s not uncommon for some of our posts to receive 500,000 or over 1 million views. This very noticeable uptick is a positive development and a big change from the level of social media engagement and interest in the immediate aftermath of the 2018 abortion referendum.

3. Florida voters reject extreme pro-abortion amendment

In a momentous pro-life victory in November, voters in Florida defeated Amendment 4 which if passed would have overturned the new pro-life laws effective in the state.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis was widely praised for the leadership he showed in defeating the extreme proposal. The victory shows what can be achieved when politicians refuse to waver and take a lead in defending the right-to-life. It represents a major win for the pro-life movement in the US and is a resounding defeat for the media generated lie which sought to convince people that in today’s America the pro-life movement had become politically toxic and could not succeed.

Overall, the November election results in the US greatly increase the chances of further pro-life gains there, following on from the landmark overturning of Roe v Wade in 2022.

Regardless of where one stands with regard to Donald Trump the man, there is no disputing the decisions he took in his previous administration directly led to the greatest pro-life victory in 50 years and has opened the door to the possibility once again of unborn babies being granted legal protection at state level across the US.

4. Numbers turning out to pro-life events growing by the day

March for Life in Dublin, 6th May 2024.

 One of the really positive developments that even members of the media have to acknowledge is the growing turnout at pro-life events across the country.

This year’s March for Life in Dublin, which took place in May, extended in length across two sides of St Stephen’s Green. It was a terrific event and a sign that pro-life supporters are committed to rebuilding the movement stronger than ever before.

As Carol Nolan TD said at the march, in reference to Ireland’s extreme new abortion law: “The veil at last is finally being lifted and more and more people are starting to ask questions about what our leaders in government are presiding over.”

The event was covered on RTÉ’s 9 O’Clock News and numerous other media outlets.

Love Both’s LifeLines Summer Tour, July 2024.

Ceiliúradh Cois Life (annual pro-life dinner) in the Aviva Stadium, September 2024.

PLC National Conference, Cork City, October 2024.

5. Another sharp rise in Irish abortions

 2024 saw another massive increase in abortions in Ireland. In June, the Department of Health released the latest abortion figures showing that 10,033 abortions took place in Ireland in 2023, a rise on the previous year when 8,156 abortions carried out.

Overall, there has been a colossal 250% increase in abortions since the law changed in January 2019. Based on the latest figures, 1 in 6 babies’ lives now ends in abortion in Ireland. 

The sharp rise in abortions year on year has become a very troubling trend. With the increase in the number of pro-life representatives elected during the year at local and national level, the political conditions now exist to press much harder for a change in policy at a governmental level focussed on reducing the number of abortions taking place instead of promoting abortion at every turn.

6. Ruth’s Abortion Experience 

 At the Pro Life Campaign National Conference in October, a nurse from West Cork, Ruth O’Sullivan, shared her deeply personal and moving story of abortion and the impact it has had on her life. She talked about how it has been a painful journey for her and her family and the hope that by sharing her story it helps “to break the silence” about the “reality of the horrors that can unfold after making the life-altering and permanent decision” to abort a baby. Ruth’s courage in going public with her story is truly admirable. The video “Ruth’s Story” needs to be watched and promoted by everyone in the pro-life movement. 

7. Remarkable year for Community Connect

Community Connect –  Ireland’s first national ‘Baby Bank’ – that provides practical support to pregnant mothers and vulnerable families with small babies had an amazingly successful year in 2024. 

Partnering with maternity hospitals, homeless agencies, domestic violence services and health professionals around Ireland, they assisted hundreds of families across Ireland during the year.

They received some well deserved media attention during the course of the year for their work.

Irish Independent writer Anne-Marie Walsh spoke to one young mother who warmly praised Community Connect for the support she received when faced with an unplanned pregnancy, where some people close to her wanted her to have an abortion. She described the shock of realising she was pregnant and how Community Connect was there for her at that critically important moment of her life.

8. Irish ‘Exclusion Zone’ law becomes operational

In October, outgoing Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly officially made the new ‘Exclusion  Zone’ law (so-called ‘safe access zones’) operational. This Act which received majority support in the Dail earlier in the year creates exclusion zones within 100 metres from any premises which provide or may in the future provide abortion, including all GP clinics, hospitals, and even so-called ‘family planning centres’ such as IFPA clinics. Activities within zones such as the expression of pro-life views are now criminalised.

Meanwhile in England, a pro-life woman arrested for praying silently outside an abortion clinic in Birmingham won a settlement from police. Isabel Vaughan-Spruce was arrested by British police in 2022 after censorship zone legislation came into effect there, targeting pro-life people from protesting, counselling or praying in close proximity to abortion clinics.

When arrested, Vaughan-Spruce was carrying no sign and remained completely silent until approached by police officers. She said she “might” have been praying at the time of her arrest. For that, she was charged with four counts of failing to comply with a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) for breaching an exclusion zone outside a Birmingham abortion clinic.

The Crown Prosecution Service subsequently dropped the charges due to “insufficient evidence.” In August, Vaughan-Spruce was awarded £13,000 and received an apology from West Midlands Police after her arrest was deemed to breach her human rights. She was supported in her legal battle by Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) UK. The outcome is a wonderful victory for freedom of speech and assembly. Hopefully, it will have a positive knock on effect in Ireland in forcing a rethink regarding the new draconian law that has been introduced here.

9. Pro-life song tops iTunes Charts

Pro-life song “I Was Gonna Be” performed by Rachel Holt reached #1 on the US iTunes country charts within 48 hours after its release in June. The song reached #10 globally out of all iTunes downloads.

It also charted on Billboard where it ranked on three different charts, reaching #9 on the Billboard Country Digital Song Sales and #20 on Billboard Digital Song Sales.

The song tells the story of an unborn baby’s life cut short by abortion, aiming to give voice to the voiceless. It was written by Nashville songwriter Chris Wallin, who has previously collaborated with superstars like Garth Brooks.

10. Passing of John Bruton – stateman and spirited defender of life

In February, former Taoiseach John Bruton passed away. He was a strong and sincere advocate for the right-to-life. 

In 2018, he campaigned publicly for a No vote in the abortion referendum. As a highly respected and distinguished statesman, he displayed many qualities that are not often seen in leaders today. He was admired across the political divide as someone who didn’t seek the limelight or court popularity for himself but instead used his profile to advance the causes he cared passionately about, and as a voice for the most vulnerable and forgotten in society.

It was a great honour for the Pro Life Campaign to have the former Taoiseach as the keynote speaker in 2018 at Ceiliúradh Cois Life, the annual pro-life dinner in Dublin. In his after-dinner address (which took place just a few months after the abortion referendum) Mr Bruton spoke about the heartbreak of the referendum loss and offered some words of encouragement to the pro-life movement, saying: “Notwithstanding the change in the law, the number of abortions can continue to be reduced, if people are convinced that there is a better and more just way. Lighting that way forward is the real route to a brighter Ireland.”

His passing is a great loss to the Irish nation. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dilís.