Maria Steen
The View
In the aftermath of last May’s referendum, there has been a dearth of pro-life commentators on radio and TV broadcasts to discuss the implementation of the new abortion laws.
But ignoring those who represent a third of the voting public is not enough for those in journalistic circles who influence what we read, hear and see. No, rather a campaign has been underway to vilify pro-life people at every turn. The pro-abortion lobby are officially the sorest winners ever; it is not enough that they ‘won’, they are intent on burying every last dissenter, first by name-calling and social ostracisation, eventually by trial.
As those who call themselves pro-choice are implementing a horrific regime in our hospitals, certain journalists are setting about ‘undercover work’ to expose and inform on those who have a different opinion from the new orthodoxy – and to ensure that they have no choice but to accept the terms of the brave new world in which we live. The truth about abortion must not be revealed at any cost, and the first thing to be done to achieve this is to undermine the credibility of those who would question the new law.
Among those uncovering dissenters is one Ellen Coyne of The Times, Ireland, who was interviewed on Morning Ireland on Monday, without challenge or even one hard question.
She reported that an American pro-life sidewalk counselling agency was training people in Ireland. This ‘news’ was considered so important by RTÉ that it made the headlines in RTÉ’s prime morning news spot, with all the legitimacy that that lends to a report.
Ms Coyne delivered the story with the urgency of an informer and was allowed by Colm Ó Mongáin to make outrageous statements such as “these groups actively want to move away from traditional anti-abortion tactics of describing the woman as a murderer, of yelling abuse at her”, without so much as the proverbial raised eyebrow from the broadcaster.
Coyne revealed, with all the horror of a pearl-clutching Victorian, how pro-life activists were “targeting” women who are rape victims or those with “fatal foetal abnormalities” in hospital carparks to persuade them to change their minds about abortion.
Disbelief
The disbelief and disgust obviously overwhelmed the studio too, causing all rational thinking to be dulled, as no one stopped to ask how it would be even possible for an individual in a carpark to identify – by sight presumably – a pregnant woman in the first trimester or know whether a woman was a rape victim or had been given a poor diagnosis for her baby.
But no matter, reason and logic should not be allowed to get in the way of a good story – particularly one that vilifies those opposed to abortion.
RTÉ played an excerpt from Ms Coyne’s undercover tape, in which an American woman allegedly advised the undercover journalist to pose as a pregnant woman in order to find out information about an abortion clinic. The American admitted that technically it was a lie to employ these tactics, but that she was doing it in order to save lives. Back in the studio, there was criticism of the methods used by this American agency, though Ó Mongáin never challenged Ms Coyne that she was employing the exact same tactics, having her reporter lie to find out information.
Much was made of the advice allegedly received from an American, though no evidence was offered of these things actually taking place in Ireland. The manner and prominence given to this item by RTÉ had all the importance of the reporting of a serious crime, but even taking the story at its height, the offence being committed was no more than someone trying to dissuade a woman from having an abortion and offering support to her and her child – something that pro-choice activists never do.
This method of bad-mouthing and undermining someone’s credibility is the classic first step in ostracising opponents. The idea is to take away any power of persuasion that pro-lifers might have, in order to eliminate their influence.
In the past number of weeks there has been lots of oxygen given in the media to the persistent calls by abortion activists, and others with vested interests, for exclusion zones around hospitals and GP clinics to guard against the spectre of pro-life protestors. The worry seems to be that these ‘protestors’ might just change people’s minds – and prevent GPs and other doctors from collecting their €450 from the taxpayer for every life aborted.
The wave of prejudice and hostility towards those of a pro-life persuasion is now being seen too, as those of us who took part in the referendum debates said it would, in the workplace. Last week, ads appeared in national newspapers advertising consultant posts in obstetrics and anaesthesia in St Vincent’s University Hospital and the National Maternity Hospital.
Under the National Maternity Hospital’s logo Vita Gloriosa Vita with the motto “delivering the future”, with no trace of irony, the wording of the ad stated: “The post-holders will provide in-patient, on call service and out-patient care along with teaching, administration and management duties, which as of 2019 includes elective termination of pregnancy services and the post-holders will be expected to contribute to this new service as part of their practice plan.”
This ad represents the first step in ostracising Catholics and anyone else who believes that it is ethically wrong deliberately to kill an innocent human being. The message is clear: post-holders will be expected to contribute. In other words, Catholics need not apply.
Leaving to one side for a moment the issue as to whether this ad is even lawful – the Employment Equality Act 1998 as amended prevents discrimination in employment on religious grounds, including discrimination in relation to access to employment – we can see clearly the societal consequences of this, as well as the consequences for the medical profession.
No one who believes in the sanctity of human life or the idea that it is morally wrong to take the life of another will go into obstetrics or related disciplines, and if they do, they will have to toe the line and “deliver” abortions rather than babies.