DUBLIN (LifeSiteNews) — Simon Harris, who oversaw the introduction of abortion into Ireland, has been elected by the parliament as the nation’s youngest prime minister.
On April 9, a vote by Ireland’s members of the Dail (TDs), confirmed Simon Harris as the incoming Taoiseach or prime minister. In a vote of 88 to 69, Harris was confirmed by his fellow parliamentarians as the incoming Taoiseach, following the shock resignation of Leo Varadkar on March 20.
READ: Ireland’s homosexual Prime Minister Leo Varadkar announces resignation
Following this vote, Harris received the official seal of office from Ireland’s President Michael D. Higgins mid-afternoon local time, confirming him in his new role.
While the outgoing Varadkar had been the youngest Taoiseach upon his election in 2017, Harris has taken that title from the outgoing leader of the Fine Gael party. Harris, 37-years-old, assumed leadership of the Fine Gael party unopposed, meaning that as party leader he leads the coalition government formed between Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil in 2020.
A general election is due by March next year, though campaigners have been making calls for an election to take place following Varadkar’s resignation.
The outgoing openly-homosexual Varadkar made waves for his anti-Catholic rhetoric, his promotion of LGBT ideology, same-sex “marriage” and abortion, and his laying the foundation for the country’s draconian hate-speech law.
While it was under Varadkar’s tenure that Ireland ushered in abortion in May 2018, it was crucially due to Harris that the murder of the unborn became commonplace in the nation.
While drumming up support to become a TD in 2011, Harris ran on a pro-life ticket. But once in office, he changed tune and led the move to introduce abortion via the so-called “Repeal the 8th” campaign, which looked to repeal the Eighth Amendment of the nation’s constitution which outlawed abortion.
As minister for health from May 2016 to June 2020, Harris formally introduced the bill into the Dail which allowed for the Eighth Amendment to be repealed. With the Irish Senate passing the Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy Bill in December 2018, Ireland earned the title of having one of the most permissive abortion laws in Europe.
The law permits abortion on demand for up to the 12th week of the unborn baby’s life, to the age of “viability” if the child is believed to be a risk to the life or the “health” of his or her mother, and also permits abortion at any age if the child is at risk of having a “fetal abnormality” that could lead to his or her natural death before or within 28 days of birth.
Harris also announced he was “committed” to introducing exclusion zones around abortion mills, to prevent pro-life witness outside, and has continued to praise the introduction of abortion as being “free, safe and legal.”
READ: Abortions climb to record levels in Ireland with over 10,000 in 2023
Under the early months of the COVID-19 era, Harris introduced particularly stringent restrictions in late March 2020 which – among other things – saw citizens prevented from traveling any more than 2 kilometers from their homes for exercise. Although this was extended to a 5 kilometer radius in May, some citizens traveling to try and access a church were still turned around by police enforcement.
READ: UK and Ireland Christians take worship ‘underground’ in wake of govt lockdowns
Welcoming his confirmation vote in the Dail, Harris stated that he intended to create “an Ireland that is compassionate, tolerant and respectful. A country that gives every child an equal start in life. An Ireland that protects our children’s future by acting decisively on the climate crisis. An Ireland that values community, and rural and regional development.”
Commenting on Harris’ appointment, Irish news outlet Catholic Arena told LifeSiteNews that “Simon Harris is symptomatic of the failure of modern Irish politics to represent its voters.”
READ: Three men arrested outside Irish cathedral while broadcasting Mass
“Despite being elected as a prolife candidate, he later supported abortion in a ruthless and cynical fashion. Harris has also made scapegoats of rural parish priests, publicly sharing a local parish newsletter where he disagreed with the contents,” continued Catholic Arena, adding:
The rise to Taoiseach of Harris is the lowest point thus far in the brain drain and race to the bottom of Irish politics but we can only hope that the next election will bring some renewal from an electorate that is already showing sides of woke fatigue.
Shortly after Varadkar’s resignation, Catholic Arena highlighted Harris’ record in opposing Catholic teaching and attempts to promote Catholic teaching in the public sphere.
“Catholics and pro-life people can expect aggressive persecution under a Harris reign as Taoiseach if his track record is anything to go by, with Harris likely to seek the legalization of euthanizing elderly and sick people as a progressive feather in his cap,” Catholic Arena wrote.