Chai Brady
Savethe8th campaign's national billboard campaign The Green Party have claimed a pro-life group’s billboards which say one in five babies are killed by abortion in Britain are “untruthful”.
A war of words sparked between the two groups after Dublin North Inner City Cllr Ciaran Cuffe publicly lodged a complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority of Ireland (ADAI). This led to the Savethe8th pro-life campaigners accusing the Green Party counsellor of attempted censorship.
The billboard says, “In Britain, ‘Limited’ Abortion kills 1 in 5 Babies. Don’t let that happen here” and features the image of a baby.
Spokesperson for Savethe8th Niamh Uí Bhrian said it was essential the public receive accurate information.
“In this debate, it is essential that the public has access to the facts about the consequences of the decision they are being asked to take. We are being asked to endorse a UK style abortion regime, and the facts about abortion in the UK are therefore very relevant to the debate,” she said.
“Mr Cuffe’s attempt to censor our message, which will not succeed, is utterly shameful,” she added.
However Cllr Cuffe said the message is “untruthful” and that the image of a baby carried with the billboard is misleading as it “suggests that fetuses or embryos are babies which is not the case in the vast majority of cases”. He added that he has made a formal complaint to the ADAI saying the billboard breaches the Code of Standards for Advertising, Promotional and Direct Marketing in Ireland.
Campaign
Savethe8th launched their billboard campaign last week. It includes another poster featuring Joseph Cronin, a boy from Donegal with Down syndrome, with the caption: “In Britain 90% of babies with Down syndrome are aborted. Don’t let that happen here”.