The Pro Life Campaign has strongly criticised the statements today from a number of Labour Party TDs demanding wider access to abortion and for Article 40.3.3 of the Constitution to be deleted. The Labour Party calls follow weekend media reports alleging that a pregnant woman who claimed she was suicidal was denied an abortion under the 2013 abortion act. It is reported that the woman subsequently agreed to a Caesarean section and the baby was delivered between 23 and 25 weeks gestation.
Commenting on the call from Labour Party TDs for wider access to abortion, Pro Life Campaign Deputy Chairperson, Cora Sherlock said:
“This is a tragic story for both mother and baby. There is a premature baby clinging to life in a Dublin Hospital as a direct result of last year’s abortion legislation and all some Labour TDs can do is exploit the situation to push for more abortion. It is obscene the way they are using this case to whip up support for their agenda.
“The Labour TDs in question should be ashamed of themselves for knowingly introducing a law that wasn’t evidence based and that puts the lives of unborn babies at grave risk. The new law was always about introducing abortion and never about providing life-saving treatments. Those who voted for it in the Dáil also chose to ignore all the peer-reviewed evidence pointing to the negative mental health consequences of abortion for women.
“Of course it suits the agenda of pro-choice activists to portray the new law as restrictive. It’s just a ploy to build support for the deletion of Article 40.3.3 of the Constitution. Pro-choice advocates talk about the new law not providing for situations like rape and incest but they know this isn’t true. The tragic story that emerged over the weekend proves that the new law is not restrictive. The truth is the psychiatrists on the panel deciding the case wanted to sign off on an abortion even though they knew it was not a treatment for suicidal feelings.
“Pro-choice activists are in effect saying that the baby at the centre of this tragic case should never have been born. It is a chilling and disturbing reminder of the cruel and inhumane reality of legalised abortion.
“Instead of playing politics with this tragedy, we should all be focussed on the best outcome for the mother and baby at the centre of this very difficult case.”
