SPUC is calling on Paul Givan, member of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Lagan Valley, to withdraw a Private Member’s Bill that the group says will help to legitimise the legalisation of abortion imposed on the Province last year by London.

Philip Lynn, SPUC’s Northern Ireland development officer, said: “Currently, Northern Ireland’s law is one of the most extreme in Europe allowing abortion on demand, in many cases up to birth. Mr Givan’s Bill seeks to prohibit abortions after 24 weeks unless the child is diagnosed with a terminal condition.

“Such a change would be merely symbolic. But despite being statistically insignificant, it would lend democratic legitimacy to the 99.993% of abortions which would fall outside the scope of the Bill— legitimacy that they would not otherwise enjoy. It could also seriously undermine the chances of repealing the radical legislation imposed by Westminster by creating the false impression that it is less extreme than it really is. Worst of all, it would compromise the unconditional right to life by effectively authorising a lethal form of discrimination against babies considered to be unworthy of legal protection”, he said. 

“In the past well-intended but morally compromised attempts to restrict abortion by trading the lives of the most vulnerable unborn children in exchange for merely cosmetic alterations to the law have proven to be disastrous.

“The right to life is the fundamental human right shared by all members of the human family regardless of their disabilities, stage of development or the circumstances of their conception. SPUC, therefore, is respectfully asking Mr Givan to withdraw the Severe Fetal Impairment Abortion (Amendment) Bill and calling instead for a Bill to repeal the legislation Westminster imposed in violation of the devolution settlement. The piecemeal approach to protecting unborn children is not only unethical, it has never succeeded in ending abortion”, said Mr Lynn. 

SPUC is urging members of the public to write to their politicians to call for genuine legal protection for all unborn children and the repeal of Section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Act 2019.