The Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) has reacted to a court’s decision that Northern Ireland is in breach of human rights in the case of abortion for so-called fatal foetal abnormality.
Belfast’s High Court found in favour of Sarah Ewart but declined to make a formal declaration of incompatibility at this stage, instead inviting further submissions from parties on the upcoming law change expected on 21st Oct.
Liam Gibson of SPUC NI said: "The right to life is the fundamental human right. Abortion is not a human right. It is an act of lethal violence directed at an innocent child and is never justified.
"This judgement effectively says that severely disabled children, with life-limiting conditions, have no right to exist," he went on. "They can be deprived of the most fundamental human right by having their lives taken from them. This is not justice, this is eugenics. We should also note that research shows that women who go on to give birth to a baby with a life-limiting condition do much better psychologically than those who have abortions.*
"Any claim that by providing legal protection for children before birth the law in Northern Ireland violates human rights obligations turns justice on its head. Not one of the nine core UN human rights treaties even mentions abortion.
"Yet, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the seminal document of the human rights project, recognises that "the child, by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth".*
"It is absolutely absurd for a court to rule that severely disabled children can be lawfully killed as long as they are "not stigmatized". This means that the most vulnerable members of the human family are to be considered sub-human with less legal protection than wild animals.
"No court, no parliament and no government has the legitimate authority to brand any section of the human family as non-persons so they can be killed. This judgement is wrong and eventually it will be overturned."
Notes to editors
* Prenatal Diagnosis (Cope H et al. 35: 761-768)
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