February 23, 2016 (LifeSiteNews) — A major campaign to urge Irish people to #VoteProLife will reach almost 700,000 voters before February 26th, when the country goes to vote in the first national election since abortion was legalised on suicide grounds in 2013.
Niamh Uí Bhriian of the Life Institute said that they had contacted and reviewed every candidate standing in every constituency because it was vitally important to identify pro-life candidates ahead of voting day on February 26th.
“The good news is that most constituencies have several pro-life candidates to vote for, and we’re making that information available by post, by email, with leaflet drops, and by social media, urging people to #VoteProLife,” she said.
Ms Uí Bhriain pointed to the success of their 2014 #VoteProLife initiative for the local elections where 65% of pro-life candidates listed by Life Institute took a seat on local councils.
She also noted that, of the main political parties, the party most stridently in favour of abortion, Labour, was floundering in the polls, even as they struggled to make support for abortion a major election issue.
This week, Labour insisted that a referendum to ‘Repeal the 8th amendment’, the section of the Irish constitution protecting the right to life of preborn children, would be a red line issue for them, drawing sharp criticism from pro-life leaders.
Ms Uí Bhriain said that it was revealing that Labour, trailing in single digits, seemed to be making abortion their top priority. “Abortion seems to be Labour’s top priority. Not fairness. Not reversing savage cuts in support for and families and single parents. Not houses for the homeless. Not jobs for returning emigrants. Not education and health. Instead, they are holding press conferences on their unswerving devotion to legalising abortion – killing babies before they even make it out of the womb. It’s a sign of just how far the party has lost its way, and they are going to feel the impact of this on election day,” she said.
The pro-life spokeswoman said that, despite massive media support, and well-financed campaigns, the mantra of ‘Repeal the 8th’ had not gained traction amongst the middle ground of Irish voters, and would not lead to a swing towards the Labour Party.
“This week, on UTV news, we saw a member of the Abortion Rights Campaign admit that politicians say they hear more from pro-life voters at the doors than from those wishing to repeal the 8th amendment,” she said.
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“The truth is that most Irish people are deeply uncomfortable with the notion of taking away the right to life from vulnerable babies and ushering in an abortion regime like that in Britain. Labour had headlines yesterday saying that they wanted ‘British-style’ abortion laws: that is not going to get them votes from middle Ireland,” she said.
Ms Uí Bhriain said that the Vote Pro-Life initiative which identified pro-life candidates around the country would reach 700,000 people before voting day and urged pro-life voters to use their votes wisely.
“Pro-life voters often feel under-represented in the Dáil (Parliament) and they need to remember that this can only change by voting for candidates who believe in protecting both mother and baby,” she said. She reminded voters that Fine Gael had broken its pro-life promise in 2013 and legalised abortion on suicide grounds against the medical evidence and in the face of huge public opposition.