Irish Church urges voters to
reject abortion and protect life
 |
| A voter casts her ballot in the Irish abortion referendum on Friday. - AFP |
The Primate of All Ireland, Archbishop Eamon Martin of
Armargh, explains how the Churches have been seeking to spread their message of
the sacredness of all human life
By Philippa Hitchen
Voters in Ireland are casting their ballots on Friday in a
referendum to decide whether or not to repeal a constitutional amendment which
would allow the country to introduce abortion legislation.
Irish law currently recognises equal rights to life for a mother
and for an unborn child, making abortion illegal except in cases where the
woman’s life is at risk.
Women accessing illegal abortions can receive a maximum
14-year jail sentence, but the law allows them to travel abroad for an
abortion, resulting in several thousand Irish women travelling to the UK each
year to terminate their pregnancies.
Ireland’s Catholic Church has been working, ahead of the
referendum, to make its voice heard in support of the ‘No’ campaign, as
Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armargh, Primate of All Ireland explained to Vatican
News:
The archbishop described the vote as a “watershed and historic
moment” as people are asked for the first time in Ireland, by referendum, “to
discuss the equality of all human life”. He notes that the 8th amendment under
review is a declaration of equality of life between the life of a woman and her
unborn child, “both lives being precious, in need of protection, love, and the
support of society and its laws”.
He said the Supreme Court has warned that “removal of this
protection will leave the unborn child with no constitutional rights, which is
a huge step”.
Church's teaching on sacredness of life
The Church, Archbishop Martin noted “has all along, through
gentle, truthful, but loving messages, tried to teach that all human life is
sacred and precious, from the first moment of conception until natural death”.
He said that proposed legislation seeks to introduce a “very
liberal abortion regime” with unrestricted access for first three months and
thereafter access on health grounds, not yet defined, and possibly up to birth
for life limiting conditions”.
Broad coalition of concern
These proposed changes, the archbishop concluded, have
united all Christian traditions [around the ‘No’ campaign]. But this is not
simply a Catholic or Christian issue, he said, since “people of all faiths and
none” have come together in a broad coalition of concern, sharing the belief
that “innocent human life should be protected”.
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