Irish members (TDs) of the lower house of the Irish Parliament, many of whom were responsible for the implementation of abortion in Ireland through the repeal of the eighth amendment, have lost their seats in the 2020 general election. Michael Robinson, SPUC Director of Communications, said: "It is a great relief to see some of the leading figures responsible for ushering in an abortion regime, rejected by the electorate."
Ireland’s two main political parties, Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil, widely supported the repeal of the country’s eighth amendment in 2018 that led to the legalisation of abortion. This move has provoked consequences in the 2020 election with many pro-abortion TDs being ousted.
Pro-abortion TDs rejected
Some of the high-profile pro-abortion TDs who were rejected this month include Lisa Chambers, a Fianna Fáil TD, who claimed abortion regret was a "makey-uppy thing", and Kate O’Connell, a Fine Gael TD, who compared perinatal hospice care to the imprisonment of women in laundries.
Other notable TDs rebuked by the Irish electorate were Timmy Dooly TD, who voted against giving pain relief to unborn children during late term abortions, and the Socialist Party’s Ruth Coppinger, who notoriously led an "abortion pill bus" around the country in 2015 and 2017.
Mr Robinson added: "The repeal of the eighth amendment saw violent abortion legislation ushered into a country to kill its most defenceless citizens. It is only fitting that those leading voices responsible for such a tragedy have been held to account and rejected by the electorate."
Pro-Life TDs retained
In contrast, 15 of the TDs who campaigned to save the eighth amendment, and who voted against Ireland’s abortion bill, have retained their seats.
During the repeal of the eighth amendment, many of these pro-life TDs spoke in defence of unborn children and their right to life, consequently facing a vicious backlash from pro-abortion campaigners.
Carol Nolan, who quit Sinn Féin after she was suspended by the party for three months when she voted against the referendum on the eighth amendment, was one such TD, "strongly opposed to abortion", who was re-elected in 2020, this time as an independent.
Speaking at the Irish Rally for Life in 2019, Nolan’s message was clear:
"Abortion tells women that they are on their own and tells them that they have no future, other than the death of their child. We stand against the cold, inhumane solution of abortion. We stand for life."