Thursday June 22, 2000
NORTHERN IRELAND ASSEMBLY REJECTS ABORTION
BELFAST, June 22 (LSN.ca) - Members of the Northern Ireland Assembly voted overwhelmingly to oppose the extension of Britain's 1967 Abortion Act to Northern Ireland. Catholic World News (CWN) reports that the pro-life motion to block the pro-abortion law was supported by 79 of the 108 Assembly members. Jim Wells, Democratic Unionist Party Assembly member for South Down, said after the vote: "It was remarkable to see the alliances formed in support of my motion, with cross-party and cross-denominational differences set aside." He explained that "The idea of the motion was to put down a marker for the United Kingdom government, to let them know that any extension of the 1967 Abortion Act into Northern Ireland would be in the face of united opposition from the local community."
The 1967 Act, which currently does not apply to Northern Ireland, allows abortion up to 24 weeks' gestation where a woman's physical or mental health is at risk. In 1998, 177,871 abortions were carried out in England and Wales, most of them prior to the 24-week limit. During the four-hour debate in Belfast on June 20, Wells told the Assembly: "Since the 1967 Act became law, 5.3 million abortions have been carried out in Great Britain - more than the populations of Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic combined."
Commenting on the case, Society for the Protection of Unborn Children chairman Betty Gibson said, "It will also show the pro-abortion lobby in the Irish Republic that they cannot use Northern Ireland as an excuse to try to undermine the ban (on abortion) that the Irish people voted to enshrine in their constitution."
For more see the CWN story at:
http://www.ewtn.com/vnews/getstory.asp?number=4220
Latest Headlines
- "Manhattan Declaration" Embodies U.S. Christian Pushback against Abortion, Same-Sex "Marriage"

- Hoffman Loses Final Tally of NY-23 Race; Alleges ACORN Tampering and Fraud

- Abortion Activist Judge Hamilton Confirmed with Help of Ten Republican Senators

- CDC Reverses Gardasil Vaccine Requirement for Immigrants

- Germany Faces Economic Downturn with Plummeting Birth Rate and Aging Population

- CCHD in Archdiocese of Chicago Says it is Working to Fix Problems

- Rejection of Washington DC Marriage Referendum Challenged With Legal Suit

- Obama-Supporting Homosexual Activist to Out Sexually Involved Priests Unless they Support Gay 'Marriage

- Austrian Catholic Bishops Issue Bland Response to Govt's Homosexual Partnership Bill

- Interim Report on Catholic Sex-Abuse Says "Homosexual Identity" Not a Predictor of Sex Abuse

- Commentary on Nov 20 NewsBytes

- LSN NewsBytes - US Health Care Reform

- LSN NewsBytes - Catholic Campaign for Human Development (CCHD)

- LSN NewsBytes - Life Issues, Religion, Swine Flu, US Politics, Sarah Palin, Miscellaneous

- LSN NewsBytes - Climate Change/Global Warming

- 59 Bishops Contributed Financially to Maine Bishop's Effort to Oppose Maine Same-Sex "Marriage" Law

- Pro-Abortion Lawmakers Shower Praise on Senate Bill's Phony Abortion Compromise

Most Read this Week
- Largest U.S. Homosexual Publisher Shuts Down, Closing Major Gay Newspapers
- EWTN's Arroyo Hosts Reform CCHD Reps Who Reveal Shocking Evidence Against USCCB Anti-Poverty Arm
- Italian Mayors Order Crufixes Put in Classrooms in Revolt against European Court Ruling
- Nat'l Organization for Marriage Responds to Miss California "Sex Tape" Scandal
- Obama Evades Questioning on Stupak Amendment in FOX Interview
- "Manhattan Declaration" Embodies U.S. Christian Pushback against Abortion, Same-Sex "Marriage"
- French Judge Finds Hospital Guilty of "Unreasonable Obstinacy" in Saving Newborn's Life
- EU Leaders to Choose President today in Secret "Soviet Style" Meetings
- Hoffman "Unconcedes" Battle for NY-23: Recount Provides Hope for "Miracle" Victory
- CCHD Responds to Reform Movement
MORE NEWS:
LifeSiteNews.com Home Page
Last 10 Days
Archives
Special Reports
Copyright © LifeSiteNews.com. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivatives License. You may republish this article or portions of it without request provided the content is not altered and it is clearly attributed to "LifeSiteNews.com". Any website publishing of complete or large portions of original LifeSiteNews articles MUST additionally include a live link to www.LifeSiteNews.com. The link is not required for excerpts. Republishing of articles on LifeSiteNews.com from other sources as noted is subject to the conditions of those sources.








Back to Top