Chai Brady
Hundreds of pro-life advocates took to the street over the weekend both North and south to call for the protection of life in both jurisdictions.
The Rally for Life took place over the weekend, with protestors in the North calling for the repeal of Section 9 of new legislation that allowed abortion to be legalised. Many demonstrators in the south highlighted the report published last week by the Department of Health which revealed 6,666 abortions took place in the Republic last year.
Responding to the report the Irish Catholic Bishops’ Conference said: “The vast majority of babies who were aborted in Ireland last year, 6,542 of them, are euphemistically described as having been ‘terminated’ in ‘early pregnancy’.
“While we never got to know them personally, each one was a unique and precious human being. It was not their fault that their conception was inconvenient or untimely, or the result of sexual assault or that their parents lacked the support that would have helped them to embrace life.”
Conference
There was also an online conference for young pro-life people which heard from a series of guests and looked at different platforms to “win hearts and minds”.
Niamh Uí Bhriain, spokeswoman for the Life Institute said the Rally for Life is the “biggest pro-life event of the year, and it brings tens of thousands of people together to be motivated and inspired, but most of all to stand for life, because the message and the works of the pro-life movement are needed now more than ever”.
“The theme of this year’s rally is ‘United for Life’ because the goal of the pro-life movement is to rebuild the culture and to bring the public to a better understanding of the horrific harm caused by abortion,” she said.