Aontú Leader Peadar Tóibín has made an appeal to members of the SDLP after both of the parties’ MPs voted in favour of a Bill amendment allowing abortion up to birth in England and Wales.
‘How can you stand over this?’
The Meath West TD said:
“We already know that Colum Eastwood signed a letter along with others to ask the British Secretary of State to introduce abortion in the North when the Assembly was down, no debate or democratic vote by MLA’s took place, and the vast majority of those who responded to an NIO consultation rejected the move, yet it went ahead.
Last night, Claire Hanna and Colum Eastwood voted yes on an amendment that effectively allows abortion up to birth for any reason. No time limit, no protections at all. Abortion based on sex, on disability, up to the moment a child enters the world. This is not what the founders of the SDLP stood for. They championed human rights, dignity and a better future. How can anyone in the SDLP stand over this?
I know that for many people in the North, decisions made at Westminster are remote and largely ineffectual, but the dignity of a human life is universal.
You have not and will not see in leaflets from the SDLP that they are in favour of abortion up until birth. For many of the people who voted for SDLP candidates, they will not have been told the true positions executed by its MP’s. Instead, they will tell you that they have an individual conscience vote – but the fact of the matter is, there is no reconciling that position with what your MPs have voted for.
I have no doubt that at election time, some SDLP candidates and their teams will still tell you they are pro-life – or that they don’t personally agree with abortion, but..
There can be no equivocation after last night. It is clear that the principles of the giants who founded the SDLP and guided it through decades of violence, with the definitive mantra that it was wrong, have now been discarded in favour of chasing some of easy, principle-free appeasement.
To those within the SDLP today who no longer recognise their party or are found wanting when they ask themselves what it stands for anymore, there must be a cost to the leadership of your party for this.
If you remain within the SDLP you are facilitating this. If you believe in the human right to life you must act. Get involved a party that stands for life no matter what way the prevailing political wind is blowing. Aontú has cumann across the North. We are growing across the island. We are ready to have a conversation with you. Join us today.”
