Precious Life Director Bernadette Smyth Belfast’s High Court should send a clear message that killing unborn children is a crime in the North, and that health professionals who break the law must be prosecuted, pro-life campaigners have said.
Speaking against the background of a court case involving a woman challenging a decision to prosecute her for procuring illegal abortion pills for her 15-year-old daughter, Precious Life Director Bernadette Smyth said the organisation was holding a witness to highlight the importance of the law’s protections for mothers and unborn children.
“At least 22 women worldwide have died from fatal complications including haemorrhage, toxic shock, sepsis, organ failure, and ruptured ectopic pregnancy following an abortion using mifepristone and misoprostol,” Ms Smyth said, explaining the dangers of the pills the woman acquired.
“Buying abortion pills and taking them without medical approval is illegal not only in Northern Ireland, but throughout the UK.
“If the same crime was committed in England it would still be a crime under the existing law,” she said.