1,000 supporters of the Eighth Amendment attended the “Stand Up For Life” rally which was organised by LoveBoth in Leisureland last week.
The keynote speaker was Claire Culwell who shared her story of how she survived the abortion that ended the life of her twin brother.
When her birth mother discovered she was pregnant, Claire’s grandmother took her for an abortion. A few weeks later, Claire’s mum discovered she was still pregnant and another attempt to abort Claire happened but the pregnancy had developed to a point where no doctor was prepared to carry it out. Claire was born shortly after that and was subsequently adopted.
“We need to work on putting life-saving alternatives to abortion in place so that woman don’t feel that they have no choice but to have an abortion when they find themselves unexpectedly pregnant. Women, their partners and their babies deserve better than abortion.”
The event was also addressed by LoveBoth spokesperson and lawyer Caroline Simons who urged those in attendance to work hard over the next few weeks so that the referendum to repeal the Eighth Amendment is defeated.
“The Government’s proposal is more extreme than England’s abortion law where one in every five babies are aborted,” she said. “If the Eighth Amendment was repealed, Ireland would go from being a country that protected and respected unborn babies to one of the most extreme and unjust abortion regimes anywhere in the world. This is not overstating the reality of what repeal means. It’s a stark, sad fact.
“Those in government pushing Repeal are asking us to accept a proposal that would allow unrestricted abortion for the first 3 months in pregnancy, a time when the baby’s heart is beating, the baby is growing fingernails, has facial fingers and is yawning and sucking his or her thumb in the womb. Repeal would mean handing the Government a blank cheque to change our abortion laws at any time in the future without ever having to consult the people again in a referendumm” she saide.
Katie Ascough, who hosted the event, urged the crowd to stay focussed on the goal in hand. “What each of us does in the next seven weeks will determine the kind of Ireland our children and grandchildren grow up in. It will determine whether Ireland continues to protect the right to life of unborn babies or abandons these protections in the false name of choice,” she concluded.
