Why abortion activists hate Ireland

By Jonathon Van Maren and republished on ‘Irish Pro-Life Crusaders’ Facebook page.  

If there’s one place that abortion activists hate more than a maternity ward, it must be pro-life Ireland. They simply cannot countenance the fact that there is a Western country, in the current year, that recognizes the right of human beings developing in the womb to live and grow in safety. They cannot stand the fact that there is a nation that has not bought into the same lies and joined their gruesome club. Thus, the Toronto Star breathlessly covered the journey of two anonymous Irish women who flew to the United Kingdom to end their pregnancies, noting that nearly all abortions are still illegal in Ireland, which, they add ominously, is “overwhelmingly Catholic.”

This, of course, is mentioned so that the reader immediately recognizes that opposition to abortion is rooted not in the fact that it brutally violates a human being’s right to life, but rather in the theology of the Catholic Church. That would mean, in case you missed it, that it is insane for people to expect a Catholic belief to be forced on the rest of the population, specifically the woman who hired a British abortionist to relieve her of her Irish pre-born child.

The Abortion Rights Coalition of Canada chimed in on the situation too, noting gravely that, “The humanity and wisdom of women far surpasses the humanity of people like Enda Kenny, leader of Ireland. He’s a man, he will never have to travel to England for an abortion, the Church is still powerful, so women must be forced to be mothers.” Pardon the run-on, that’s a direct quote.

There’s a lot to unpack there. First of all, I fail to see why someone who does not agree with the violent eviction of human beings in the womb somehow possesses less “humanity” than an abortion activist, but then again, abortion activists are in the full-time business of claiming that some people are less human than others, so this should be no surprise.

Second of all, no one has to travel to England for an abortion, although some people very regrettably choose to. But to claim that this was something that had to be done is simply stupid. Then we have the finger pointed at the Catholic Church, even though I believe it is politicians and not cardinals who create public policy in Ireland. And finally, we have the claim that women are “forced to be mothers.” It must be pointed out here that the Irish woman seeking the British abortion was already a mother. That’s why she wanted an abortion: to end her tenure as a mother as quickly as possible. The unfortunate lie that abortion activists tell women is that abortion will relieve them of their motherhood, when in reality it makes them mothers of dead children, but mothers nonetheless.

The Irish law that is the target of so much hatred and bile is the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution Act, which states in full that: “The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right.” Cue the screeching feminists, who shy away from terminology like “unborn” much like a vampire does a mirror.

It’s beautiful and encouraging to see that in spite of relentless pressure from the outside—Amnesty International, the European Union, and abortion activists from around the globe—Irish pro-life activists have been fighting back magnificently in defence of Ireland’s tiniest girls and boys. I’ve had the privilege of spending time with quite a number of them, and their conviction arises from the firm belief that violence is not an acceptable or humane answer to the question of what to do about a crisis pregnancy.

That’s why abortion activists hate the clear, wonderful message that Ireland sends to the rest of the West: You, too, can fight for a society that protects all people, from the very youngest to the very oldest.

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