Martina Purdy
It’s almost 300 years since the Dean of St Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin penned his famous satirical essay, A Modest Proposal. The Anglo-Irish writer Jonathan Swift famously suggested the impoverished Irish, burdened by parenthood, need not go hungry. All they had to do was sell their own babies as food, like livestock, to wealthy English landlords. I read with interest Mary Kenny’s recent column that the new Irish government may formally mark the essay’s anniversary in 2029. The anniversary is mentioned in the draft Programme of Government, entitled Securing Ireland’s Future. How appropriate I thought. After all, it would do us no harm to reflect on how we deal with our own children these days: more and more are being killed off before birth.
While most Irish people voted for constitutional change to pave the way for abortion, it was quite different in the north. It was ‘decriminalised’ in 2019, not by any vote by the Irish people but by kindly, mostly English, female MPs at Westminster. They claimed women in the north of Ireland were being deprived of the right to kill their own children.
Figures
New figures, north of the border, reveal that 2,792 little boys and girls were aborted in 2023/4. That’s roughly the population of Skibbereen, Cork. In fact, those figures represent a 28% rise over the previous year: an average of eight boys and girls per day. Most of these little ones perished through the abortion pill. Imagine if these children had the right to be born? They might have been given the most popular boys and girls names in Ireland today: Jack, Noah, Rían, Oisín, Fiadh, Grace, Emma, Sophie.
Sadly, there has been little political commentary on the rise, which has been highlighted by Precious Life and other pro-life campaigners. The Traditional Unionist Voice MP Jim Allister called the figures “deeply troubling” while the abortion lobby lamented that access was still a problem for “abortion seekers”.
Indeed, a spokeswoman for Alliance for Choice cited travel problems and childcare issues, and suggested the abortion figures might have been higher had it not been for misinformation and “rogue crisis pregnancy” centres (such as Stanton Healthcare which actually tries to help women keep their child with practical and material support.)
Imagine missing out on the opportunity to kill your own child. Tut, tut, Jonathan Swift might have written had he been around today. Would he, in true Swiftian style, have proposed improving train services to advantage these women?
As the number of families struggling to keep a roof over their heads and put food on the table increases, inevitably so do the number seeking abortions”
Academic and pro-choice campaigner Goretti Horgan told the Belfast News Letter that the sharp rise in abortion is happening across the UK, with the majority of women having abortions for ‘financial reasons’. “As the number of families struggling to keep a roof over their heads and put food on the table increases, inevitably so do the number seeking abortions,” she said.
Ms Horgan called for an end to the British government’s two-head cap on child benefit, demanded more childcare and the slashing of house prices.
I would, along with Ms Horgan, laud any government measures that would make it easier for a woman to keep her child. But let’s face it, there is more than finances involved in the decision to end the life of your baby.
One of the reasons that abortion is on the rise is that making it legal has made it seem normal. It has become a form of contraceptive after conception of a life.
Many have bought into the lie that abortion is compassionate and empowers women. In fact, it wounds women, kills children. Abortion also wounds men, but it also suits quite a number of them: abortion is a one-way ticket out of responsibility. “It’s your choice,” is much easier than “Let me help you.”
Our culture has bought into the lie that this is an acceptable lifestyle choice, even if you can afford to keep your child. “It is a poverty to decide that a child must die so you may live as you wish,” Mother Teresa famously said.
Spiritual
Abortion is not so much a financial problem as a spiritual one. What we really need is a change in attitude and culture. We need a spiritual awakening if we are to cast off the dreams of darkness. I remember discussing abortion about ten years ago with a well-educated young Catholic woman. I told her that I was pro-life. “But,” she protested. “What if I get drunk and have a one-night stand and end up pregnant?” I told her not to get drunk and have a one-night stand. She was as surprised at my response as I was at her question.
The vast majority of the NI abortions were the “DIY” variety – using abortion pills at home. It is a grim fact that nearly 3,000 tiny bodies had to be disposed of. Were they flushed down the toilet or dumped in the rubbish? Who wants to talk about that? It is simply too horrible to contemplate. Maybe think of that next time you hear the Green Party advocate for extreme abortion while complaining of pollution and demanding a clean water supply.
President Donald Trump is no Mother Teresa but there are signs that under his new administration that the United States is beginning to turn away from abortion”
On a global scale, around 75 million babies yearly are destroyed through abortion. Most of these are black children – around 38%. Of course, the same people who claim “Black Lives Matter” are the same people who support abortion. I once pointed this out on a podcast. I still remember the response of the female journalist: her lips actually curled.
Deforms
Mother Teresa, now St Teresa of Kolkata, famously told the American people that abortion deforms a nation.
President Donald Trump is no Mother Teresa but there are signs that under his new administration that the United States is beginning to turn away from abortion. Since taking office, he has defunded Planned Parenthood and pardoned twenty-three anti-abortion activists who were prosecuted for their peaceful pro-life stance. Among them was Fr Fidelis Moscinski, a priest.
Perhaps if we will not end abortion for moral reasons, we may do so eventually out of our own self-interest, to prevent our own destruction as a people.
The Belfast abortion figures coincided with the news that the birth rate is falling in Northern Ireland in line with the rest of Ireland. By 2031 there will be more deaths than births. Actions have consequences.
It’s made clear to us in Deuteronomy, Chapter 30, that we as individuals and as a nation have a choice between life and death. We are called to choose life and prosperity rather than death and destruction.
The number of Irish babies killed through abortion is well over 40,000.
When is enough going to be enough?