Chai Brady
Dawn McAvoy, co-founder of Both Lives Matter A new poll has revealed 93% of people in the North of Ireland believe both the life of the mother and the unborn child are important.
The polling, conducted by ComRes, comes as a bankbench bill aimed to introduce abortion legislation in the North was read in the House of Commons this week.
Diana Johnson MP called for the repeal of the 1861 Offences Against the Person Act which criminalises abortion, despite criticism that the issue should be dealt with in Stormont and not Westminster.
Dawn McAvoy, co-founder of Both Lives Matter said: “Their campaign goes far beyond the hard cases in the context of Great Britain where 98% of abortions involved physically healthy women aborting physically healthy babies.”
“This poll shows that most people in Northern Ireland believe that both lives matter when it comes to pregnancy. Together we can find a more human way ahead which gives dignity and value to both.” Commenting on the proposed legislation British-born Professor John Keown of Georgetown University in Washington DC said that, if implemented, the bill would “make the law regulating abortion radically more permissive, especially but by no means only in relation to abortion up to the end of the 24th week of pregnancy”.
Johnson said she hopes the bill will win enough support to force Theresa May to act, although there is no chance it will become law because the government will not give it parliamentary time.