Heartbreaking to see MLAs fighting for Abortion Until Birth for Children with Disabilities: It's callous, cruel and discriminatory.
Heartbreaking to see MLAs fighting for Abortion Until Birth for Children with Disabilities. - Aontú
It's callous, cruel and discriminatory.
(13/12/2021)
Speaking in advance of the Severe Fetal Impairment Abortion (Amendment) Bill’s next stage in Stormont, Aontú Leader Peadar Tóibín TD has reaffirmed Aontú’s support for the Bill’s efforts to stop abortion of children with disabilities.
An Teachta Tóibín: “It is heart breaking to see any equivocation among any political parties in the north of Ireland when it comes to late term abortion potentially up until birth for children with disabilities. This is incredibly inhumane in so many ways. That a child with a disability would not have the same right to life as a child without a disability is blatantly discriminatory. That any MLA or party would argue for the state to be able to end life of a fully formed unborn child at the cusp of birth is shockingly cruel and callous”.
“That any SDLP, Green, Alliance or PBP MLA could support this is incredible. Sinn Féin are breaking their only party policy in not opposing this Bill. Their Ard Fheis policy clearly does not extend to late term abortion for children with disabilities. This from a party that suspended TDs for looking for a freedom of conscience on this issue is incredible. For 200 years republicans have told London that they had no right to legislate for any part of Ireland. This core Republican policy has been ditched. Michelle O’Neill stated today that “Westminster had to legislate for abortion in the North”. This is not true. Michelle O’Neill and Mary Lou McDonald they lobbied Westminster with Colm Eastwood for the introduction of this abortion legislation. The majority of people when polled stated that this was a devolved issue and that the elected reps of the north should be responsible for dealing with it. Sinn Féin by tabling an amendment to the bill to immediately roll out abortions in the north have shown that they are a cold house for human rights activists around the country”.
“The legislation going through Stormont would curb abortion based upon ‘non-fatal disabilities’ such as Down Syndrome, Cleft Lip etc. It is not a perfect piece of legislation because it does not entirely eliminate disability-based abortions, but it is an important piece of legislation that can impact the proliferation of abortion in the North. This legislation will save lives, it will save the lives of children who would otherwise have been aborted for having a disability. For that reason, Aontú supports the legislation. In tandem with legal challenges to Westminster’s illegal imposition upon the North, this legislation and other efforts will protect the unborn in the North. We cannot let the perfect be the enemy of the good; this legislation though imperfect, curbs abortion of the unborn – that is ample reason enough for it to be passed. Aontú is the only party all-Ireland party committed to protecting the life of the unborn from Derry to Kerry. From supporting the Severe Fetal Impairment Abortion (Amendment) Bill through Stormont, to co-sponsoring the Foetal Pain Relief Bill in the Dáil, Aontú is showing that actions, not words, matter in leading Human Rights movement into the future.”
