BELFAST, Northern Ireland, July 7, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) — Thousands of people bussed, drove and walked from throughout Ireland and British-ruled Northern Ireland on Saturday to unite in defense of laws protecting life from conception.
“This generation of pro-lifers are committed, tireless, skilled and determined, and they will ensure that love wins through, that abortion is defeated, and that mothers and babies are protected,” Niamh Ui Bhriain, the director of the Dublin-based Life Institute, told the All-Ireland Rally for Life — a crowd bright with banners, posters, flags, and face paint.
With a looming legislative fight in Northern Ireland and a likely referendum coming in southern Ireland to remove laws and constitutional safeguards, the youthful crowd and their leaders showed enthusiasm for the battle.
Before assembling at Customs House Square, the group marched through Belfast behind a 30-foot banner addressing both Northern and Southern Ireland: “Protect the Offenses Against the Person Act 1861 and Save the Eighth Amendment of the Irish Constitution.”
Elsewhere in Belfast, a pro-abortion crowd also rallied.
Ui Bhriain said thousands of young people were eager to campaign to defend the Eighth Amendment to the Irish constitution, which protects unborn life equally with the life of the mother.
Bernadette Smyth of the Precious Life group in Northern Ireland received sustained applause when she praised Attorney General John Larkin, who appealed a court ruling that found Northern Ireland’s 160-year-old law criminalizing abortions, unless pregnancy threatens the mother’s life, a violation of women’s rights in the case of unborn babies with severe disabilities. She called Larkin “a bold and courageous defender of the right to life of babies with disabilities.”
Several women spoke about their experiences bearing and nurturing disabled children. Tracy Harkin of Every Life Counts said politicians such as David Ford and Mick Wallace in Northern Ireland “are actually arguing that these babies are not human because of their severe disability — and that is simply appalling.” Her daughter, Kathleen Rose, was diagnosed with Trisomy 13, which she said is “often described as a ‘fatal abnormality’ by [pro-abortion] campaigners. And she is now 9 and brings us so much joy.”
Fionnuala McArdle described how her baby girl, Meabh, was born at 23 weeks weighing just 1 pound and given a “0.1 percent chance.” She is now thriving at eight months. The mother urged the crowd to “fight for your baby.”
Bronagh Park described how she “was told when I was 23 weeks pregnant that I should have an abortion because of my daughter’s disability.” Born with only half her heart developed and still, at nearly two years old, facing many physical challenges, “Sofia is a wee fighter and she amazes us every day.”
The Belfast Telegraph covered the pro-life and abortion events with a single story that devoted twice the amount of space and four pictures to the pro-abortion rally while using no photos of the pro-life supporters.
