BELFAST: : Pro-life campaigners are calling on Prime Minister, Boris Johnson to intervene to halt the implementation of a radical new law introducing abortion on demand to Northern Ireland which the Minister of State, Robin Walker, placed before Parliament, Wednesday.
The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), the world’s oldest anti-abortion campaign group is calling on the Government to withdraw its proposals for a new legislative framework for Northern Ireland which it describes as "extremist". SPUC says that abortion is a devolved issue and Parliament should not trample on the devolution settlement at the heart of the Belfast Agreement.
Philip Lynn, SPUC’s Northern Ireland development officer said that the provisions of the framework would subject the Province to "one of the most radical and ruthless abortion regimes in Europe."
"By ramming abortion on demand down our throats Parliament has torn-up the devolution settlement and is treating Northern Ireland as a colony," he said.
"Despite the unanimous opposition of Northern Ireland's sitting MPs, the protest of tens of thousands of people, in person or via public petition, and the 79% of citizens who opposed the imposition of abortion in the Northern Ireland Office’s own consultation, Boris Johnson’s Government has taken the infamous decision to force this on the people of Northern Ireland against their will.
"Among the litany of egregious measures the Government will introduce is the killing of unborn children up to 12 weeks gestation on demand, and even up to birth for children deemed to have a severe 'impairment' or ‘abnormality'. This is a lethal form of discrimination against children with disabilities.
"The framework will also turn Northern Ireland’s schools into conduits for the abortion industry directing even underage girls for abortions without the knowledge of their parents. This will only facilitate the exploitation of girls and help to cover-up cases of child sex abuse.
"Tens of thousands of Northern Ireland's citizens have been disenfranchised by this despicable Act. A precedent has been created: undermining the devolution settlement, perhaps fatally. The only just and legitimate remedy is the immediate repeal of the abortion legislation within Section 9 of the NI (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019 and these ruthless regulations," said Mr Lynn.
"The responsibility for imposing this legislation lies squarely with 10 Downing Street. Boris Johnson has the power to stop this now and return authority for abortion law to the people of Northern Ireland and the Stormont Assembly and we’re calling on him to do that."
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For further information contact:
Philip Lynn, SPUC Northern Ireland
Mob +44 (0) 7540 999 230
email: philiplynn@spuc.org.uk
Michael Robinson
Director of Parliamentary Communications SPUC
Mob: 07534 544867
Email: michael@spucscotland.org