PRESS RELEASE – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Govt to launch nationwide abortion marketing campaign across Northern Ireland
1 Oct 2019 – The Northern Ireland Office has confirmed that it will be launching a nationwide abortion marketing campaign across Northern Ireland if the abortion law changes on October 21st.
The ‘awareness campaign’ will be launched in early November. If the change in law goes ahead, section 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act will be repealed in Northern Ireland. Abortion will be available, on-demand, up to 28 weeks legalising sex-selective and disability-selective abortion including abortion for Down’s syndrome, cleft lip and club foot.
The announcement from the Government comes as over 800 healthcare professionals in Northern Ireland have spoken out against the proposed change in the law.
Recent polling from ComRes shows that 66% of women and 70% of 18-34-year-olds in Northern Ireland rejected abortion law imposed on Northern Ireland from Westminster. The strongest support among age groups surveyed came from 18-34-year-olds, with 70% agreeing that they did not want abortion law imposed on Northern Ireland.
Spokesperson for Right To Life UK Catherine Robinson said:
“100,000 people in Northern Ireland are alive today because Northern Ireland did not accept the same abortion law that was introduced into Britain in 1967.
This move to launch a nationwide abortion marketing campaign across Northern Ireland promoting abortion is a blatant attempt by the Government to further undermine the will of the people of Northern Ireland. It adds insult to injury after Westminster voted to impose one of the most extreme abortion laws in the world on Northern Ireland and could lead to an even larger increase in the number of lives lost to abortion.
The clock is ticking. The people of Northern Ireland now have only 20 days to stop this. If Stormont reconvenes by October 21st, this extreme abortion law will not be imposed on Northern Ireland. It is up to the people of Northern Ireland to demand that Sinn Fein and DUP reconvene Stormont now.”
ENDS
- For additional quotes and media interviews contact +44 07774 483658 or email press@righttolife.org.uk
- Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Julian Smith’s comments are available here: http://bit.ly/2obuTHp
- Further reporting on the proposed launch of the campaign is available here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-49883771
- ComRes interviewed 1,013 Northern Irish adults online between 8th and 15th October 2018. Data was weighted to be representative of all Northern Irish adults. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Full data tables are available here: https://www.comresglobal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/2018-Both-Lives-Matter.pdf
- The full report on the 100,000 lives figure quoted above is available here: https://bothlivesmatter.org/statistics