The UK's leading ?pro-life group is calling for an end to the attempts to bully Northern Ireland into legalising abortion.
The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) accused abortion advocates in the House of Commons of trying to intimidate the people of the Province and impose their ideology? upon them.
Liam Gibson, SPUC's development officer in Northern Ireland said: "Abortion is not healthcare, it is an act of lethal violence directed at an unborn child and is never justified. ?Conservative estimates show that t?he law in Northern Ireland has saved the lives of 100,000 children who would not have been born had the Abortion Act been introduced in 1967. If MPs who have no mandate from the people of Northern Ireland tried to dictate our abortion law it would be completely illegitimate and cause huge resentment.
"Attempts to exploit the decision of the referendum in the Irish Republic and sweep aside the consistent opposition to liberal abortion in Northern Ireland shows how little respect some in Westminster have for the devolution settlement. Their calls for a similar referendum to be held north of the border are nothing more than a publicity stunt. Such a referendum would have no legal precedent in our system of government and would only serve those who seek to bypass political opposition to the abortion agenda," said Mr Gibson.
"International law recognises that all members of the human family share an equal right to life and that children deserve special protection, including legal protection before as well as after birth.? Every State has a moral and legal obligation to secure the human rights of everyone within its jurisdiction. No State, no government, regardless of public opinion, can abrogate fundamental human rights."
In February 2016 the Northern Ireland Assembly debated possible changes to the Province's abortion laws. It rejected a proposal to make it lawful to abort children diagnosed with a life-limiting condition by 59 votes to 40, and also voted 64 to 30 against an amendment which would have made it lawful to abort those said to have been conceived through criminal sexual activity.
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For more information, please contact Liam Gibson, SPUC's development officer in Northern Ireland: