Dublin hosted thousands of pro-lifers at the March For Life with campaigners demanding fair representation in the country’s upcoming abortion review as well as more support for women with unplanned pregnancies.
The March, which took place on 17 September, called for all perspectives to be included in the ‘Three Year Review’ that the Irish Government is undertaking in relation to abortion policy. The March was one of a number of regional Marches in addition to the national Rally for Life earlier this year.
Media commentator, Wendy Grace, told the marchers:
“The pro-life movement represents more than 1 in 3 voters, yet the Government is behaving like we don’t exist. This undermining of democracy has to end. We are here to demand proper representation at the decision-making table”.
Over 20,000 abortions
The Irish abortion law, which removes legal protections for unborn children within the first 12 weeks, was approved in 2018 and implemented in 2019. It is now set for a review and pro-lifers are demanding that their voices be heard.
Eilís Mulroy of the Pro Life Campaign said: “Today, we are uniting with pro-life Oireachtas [Parliament] members to demand that the Government address Ireland’s spiralling abortion rate and make way for positive alternatives to abortion to be promoted”.
Since the introduction of abortion into Ireland, there have been over 20,000 abortions.
Carol Nolan TD [MP] told the crowd: “There is absolutely no excusing the way the Government is excluding the pro-life movement from the three-year review process. It is wholly unacceptable for the Minister for Health to repeatedly meet with pro-abortion groups for their views on what should happen as part of the review, while refusing to meet with any pro-life representatives”.
“I know what abortion regret feels like…”
One of the speakers at the March, Rachel Mackenzie, talked about her personal experience of having two abortions. She told marchers: “I know what abortion regret feels like, like countless others do. It’s time that politicians acknowledged that people like me exist”.
She continued: “Women and unborn babies deserve better than a system that only offers abortion. We can do better than this. Women that are facing unplanned pregnancies need to be offered positive alternatives because you see one choice is no choice”.
Dr Brendan Crowley from Cork addressed the March, saying: “The new abortion law forces doctors to engage in non-evidenced based practices which consistently end the life of one patient and are often very harmful to the woman. How exactly is this not a very clear example of medicine being actively used as a tool by the State?”
He said that freedom of conscience protections for healthcare workers “need to be strengthened not weakened”.
The three-day waiting period saves lives
At the All Ireland Rally for Life earlier this year, pro-lifers demanded that the waiting period before an abortion be maintained in law. Irish law requires that a woman seeking an abortion must undergo a three-day waiting period before she can undergo an abortion.
Spokeswoman for the rally, Megan Ní Scealláin, said: “Voters were guaranteed that women would have a three-day period to reflect between a first abortion appointment and the doctor giving the abortion pill, and it is appalling to see abortion campaigners now push to have that time to think scrapped”.
“We know from figures released to Carol Nolan TD that between 800 and 1,000 women did not proceed with an abortion after that initial appointment. Scrapping the requirement for those three days to think might mean another 1,000 abortions a year”.
Right To Life UK spokesperson Catherine Robinson said: “There should be legal protections for unborn children but many of our elected leaders would like to pretend that pro-lifers do not exist; that there is a consensus about abortion. But as the Marches For Life in Dublin, in London and across the globe show, this is not the case at all”.
