BELFAST 19 March 2021: The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC), the United Kingdom’s largest pro-life grassroots campaigning organisation, is backing calls for pro-life politicians to walk out of the Stormont Executive if the Northern Ireland Office tries to commission "abortion services".
Liam Gibson, SPUC’s Northern Ireland political officer, said: “We believe that this is a decisive moment for Northern Ireland, that’s why we’re joining with other pro-life groups in calling on all members of the Assembly who believe in the right to life to walk away from the Executive and bring about an election.
"Last year the London government imposed on us one of the most extreme abortion regimes in Europe. We now have a situation that allows abortion on demand up to 24 weeks and in some circumstances without any gestational limit. Over 79 per cent of respondents in the government’s consultation rejected the proposed regulations. Nevertheless, Boris Johnson’s government pushed through legislation that had no democratic mandate and was in direct opposition to the expressed views of more than three-quarters of the people taking part in the consultation.
"Northern Ireland’s devolved institutions were designed to ensure government by consensus. But London discarded this principle when it decided to decriminalise abortion against the will of the people. The Northern Ireland Office is planning for six thousand of our unborn children to be aborted every year. The Secretary of State needs to realise that a government that loses the consent of the people is no longer legitimate. The people of Northern Ireland do not want London’s extremist abortion agenda and our politicians must not stand idly by while it’s imposed upon us. They need to act now by leaving the Executive, bringing about an Assembly election and putting the right to life at the centre of that election.
"We’re calling on our supporters to contact pro-life MLAs to urge them to defend the right of unborn children by forcing an election. This is the only way to make sure that the people here maintain the power to defend our unborn children from London’s radical abortion regime.”
For further information, contact:
Liam Gibson: 07984 990 688; liamgibson@spuc.org.uk
or
Philip Lynn: 0754999230; philiplynn@spuc.org.uk