The large crowd who turned out in Dublin for the March for Life on Bank Holiday Monday were urged to vote pro-life in the country’s upcoming local and European elections.
With the latest figures in Ireland suggesting that there may have been over 10,000 abortions in the country in 2023, participants in this year’s March for Life were urged to support pro-life candidates.
Eilís Mulroy of the Pro Life Campaign told the crowds gathered in Dublin that the Pro Life Campaign “will be publishing a comprehensive voter guide, featuring a list of all election candidates and where they stand on right-to-life issues”.
She added that it looks as though “the number of abortions carried out in that one year period will exceed 10,000, representing a massive increase in abortions year on year since the new law took effect”.
Dr Calum Miller, from the UK, also spoke at the March and focused on conscientious objection to abortion within the medical profession saying “If you lose the soul of medicine and make it a profession of killing, if you rob medicine of conscience by expelling those who listen to their conscience, everyone is in danger”.
“Is that the sort of healthcare system you want looking after you when you are weak and vulnerable?”.
“Erode conscience, and you remove the healthcare professionals with the most integrity, who are willing to do what is right rather than what is convenient”, Dr Miller added.
A mother of a child who has Down’s syndrome, Anna Buday, told parents who had a child with Down’s syndrome or who had a prenatal diagnosis of Down’s syndrome at the March for Life not to be afraid.
“There is hope. There is plenty of laughter and joy. There is learning. There is opportunity. There is kindness and capability. There is so much love!”.
Pro-life TD Carol Nolan also spoke at the March saying that “more and more people are starting to ask questions about what our ‘so-called’ leaders in Government are presiding over”.
“I am convinced that in addition to the people who voted ‘no’ in 2018, there are lots of ‘yes’ voters who now regret voting for repeal. Given what has transpired, we need to reach these voters in the coming weeks and urge them to think pro-life before they vote in the upcoming elections in the next few weeks, and indeed, in the next few months”.
A highly-controversial review of Ireland’s abortion law last year recommended physicians who perform abortions be immune from prosecution if they perform an abortion at any stage of pregnancy.
The review also recommended the scrapping of the three-day waiting period before an abortion can happen.
This is despite the fact that 1,903 women in Ireland did not proceed with an abortion after an initial abortion appointment and a mandatory three-day waiting period in 2022.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK, Catherine Robinson, said “With the upcoming local and European elections, Irish pro-lifers have a chance to ensure that pro-life candidates are able to represent them as well as unborn babies and their mothers”.
“With the increase in abortions in Ireland year on year, pro-life political representation is sorely needed”.
