CNA Staff, Apr 23, 2020 / 11:24 am (CNA).- The bishops of Northern Ireland wrote to members of the region’s legislature Wednesday urging them to debate the abortion regulations imposed by the British government and to formulate new, pro-life regulations.
“We take this opportunity to encourage you to debate these Regulations as a matter of urgency,” the bishops of Northern Ireland wrote April 22 to members of the legislative assembly. “Insofar as they exceed the requirements of the Northern Ireland Act 2019, we urge you to take steps to formulate new Regulations that will reflect more fully the will of a significant majority of the people in this jurisdiction to protect the lives of mothers and their unborn children.”
The Abortion (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2020, which came into force March 31, allow elective abortions up to 12 weeks of pregnancy; abortions up to 24 weeks in cases of risk to the mother’s physical or mental health; and abortion without time limit in cases of severe fetal impairment or fetal fetal abnormality.
The bishops recalled their “responsibility to do all we can to promote a culture of care and respect for life in our society. This includes a responsibility to inform the conscience of all members of the Catholic Church and people of good will regarding the fundamental moral values at stake in the issue of abortion.”
They said their opposition to the regulations “is rooted in the Catholic Church’s teaching concerning the dignity of every human life, regardless of age, ability, gender or background.”
The Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act 2019, which mandated new abortion regulations in the region, is “an unjust law,” the bishops said, “which was imposed without the consent of the people of Northern Ireland.”
The bishops added they are “morally obliged, wherever possible, to do all we can to save the lives of unborn children, which could be lost through abortion, and to protect mothers from the pressures they might experience at the time of an unplanned pregnancy. We trust that you recognise this to be an obligation we all share as concerned citizens and public representatives.”
“As the Catholic Bishops of Northern Ireland we are eager to enter into dialogue with MLAs from across the political parties in an attempt to explore, where possible, how new Regulations can be formulated, which express the will of most people in our society to support and protect the lives of mothers and their unborn children,” the bishops wrote.
The Northern Ireland Executive is a power-sharing body that includes both unionists and Irish nationalists.
The largest party in the assembly, by one member, is the Democratic Unionist Party, which have emerged as a leading pro-life party in the region. However, the unionist party has had links to the Free Presbyterian Church of Ulster, an ecclesial community particularly hostile to the Catholic Church.
The next largest party is Sinn Féin, an Irish nationalist party that has historically enjoyed significant Catholic support. It supported the liberalization of abortion laws in Northern Ireland imposed by the British parliament, and its party members endorsed the repeal of the Republic of Ireland’s Eighth Amendment, which protected unborn children.
The remaining parties in the assembly allow their MLAs a conscience vote on abortion.
Jim Allister, the Traditional Unionist Voice’s sole MLA and a member of the opposition, said on the regulations’ coming into force that “From today, what should be the safest place for an unborn, namely its mother’s womb, can become on a whim one of the most dangerous places.”
And the leader of the Green Party in Northern Ireland, Clare Bailey, has welcomed the new regulations, saying that “access to abortion is a positive move.”
First Minister Arlene Foster, who is also leader of the DUP, said earlier this month that “I don’t believe abortion on demand should be available in Northern Ireland,” calling it “a very retrograde step for our society.”
“Instead of supporting people who find themselves in crisis pregnancies, we’re not even having any discussion around that and how we can support people in those circumstances, how we can provide perinatal care,” she added.
In contrast, Michelle O’Neill, deputy First Minister and vice president of Sinn Féin, urged that women in Northern Ireland be allowed to perform medical abortions at home.
At-home medical abortions were discussed by the region’s executive April 6, which reportedly led to a row between the DUP and Sinn Féin.
The pro-life group the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children have placed billboards in the region that urge the repeal of the regulations, and note that “Abortion kills babies”.
The poster campaign is set to expand after the Advertising Standards Authority, a regulator, rejected complaints about the billboards.
The ASA affirmed that the advertisements comply with freedem of speech defenses in the Human Rights Act 1998.
Liam Gibson, SPUC’s Northern Ireland Political Officer, said that “We intend to extend the initiative and continue to build support for the restoration of the right to life of all unborn children.”
Previously, abortion was legally permitted in the region only if the mother’s life was at risk or if there was risk of long term or permanent, serious damage to her mental or physical health.
Northern Irish women had been able to procure free National Health Service abortions in England, Scotland, and Wales since November 2017. They are allowed to travel to the rest of the UK to procure abortions during the coronavirus outbreak.
Though in England, Wales, and Scotland, two medical professionals must certify in all cases that there were lawful grounds for abortion, in Northern Ireland under the new regulations only one medical professional is needed for certification in elective abortions or in cases of immediate necessity where there is a risk to the life of the mother.
The lower threshold in Northern Ireland was adopted at least in part because “it is likely that there will be a more significant number of people raising conscientious objections than in other parts of the UK.”
Consientious objection is allowed for direct participation in abortion, but not for ancillary, administrative, or managerial tasks associated with the procedure, because that “would have consequences on a practical level and would therefore undermine the effective provision of abortion services in Northern Ireland.”
Buffer zones have not been set up around locations where abortions are procured, barring protest in the locations’ immediate vicinity. The government has decided to wait and see what the situation will be, keeping the matter under review so it can “respond to any challenges as needed at the time.”
Northern Ireland rejected the Abortion Act 1967, which legalized abortion in England, Wales, and Scotland; and bills to legalize abortion in cases of fatal fetal abnormality, rape, or incest failed in the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2016.
John Hayes, the Conservative MP for South Holland and The Deepings, said ahead of the regulations’ introduction that the process was “overriding devolution.”
“It seems likely this will be interpreted as the UK Government imposing its will on a reluctant part of the Kingdom which is doubtless disdainfully regarded by Whitehall’s liberal elite as antediluvian,” he wrote earlier this month.
The amendment to the NI EF Act obliging the government to provide for legal abortion in Northern Ireland was introduced by Stella Creasy, a Labour MP who represents a London constituency.
In October 2019, the High Court in Belfast had ruled that the region’s ban on the abortion of unborn children with fatal abnormalities violated the UK’s human rights commitments.
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They’re not likely to decrease given the Catholic Church’s newfound commitment, under Francis, to telling the world we’ve been lying to you for 2000 years.
And Europe fell into a deep sleep for hundreds of years…
And yet, the memory of how the distinguished Church and State and other stuff used to fit together…this, from Cardinal DANIELOU. A quote, a fictive parable, and an epilogue…
QUOTE: “Of course, there is a distinction of powers, and this world is not subject directly to the authority of the Church. But to say that this world is not directly subject to the Church’s authority is not to say that it is not subject to the law of God, of which the magisterium of the Church is the interpreter” (“Prayer as a Political Problem,” 1965).
A FICTIVE PARABLE: And it came to pass that the Church sought to fully engage the laity more, in both the domain of the kitchen, and in the external domain of the world (a very good thing!). And this last-ditch initiative was called synodality. But, the radically secularist world filled the vacuum with its politicized effluvium, and the world fell victim to such as “religious groups that follow an anti-Christian narrative.” And the shadow of minarets stretched across the landscape.
And, just as the overrun Hagia Sophia was adorned with Arabic script in the 15th Century, so too was St. Peter’s Basilica adorned with Pachamama in the 21st Century. And, when it was asked, “what does the magisterium have to say, there was nought else by silence and then the sound of an uncertain trumpet.
And, Alaric smiled, whispering in a German accent something about an der Synodal Weg. Emperor Napoleon, too, who had confided his religious pluralism thusly: “They will say that I am a papist—I am no such thing. I was a Mahomedan in Egypt—I will be a Catholic here, for the good of the people. I do not believe in forms of religion, but in the existence of God” (Walter Scott, “Life of Napoleon: Emperor of the French,” Vol II, 1832).
What once was the cultural event called Europe, and the coherence of Faith & Reason, and even the transitory idiom of nation-states, faded from history. Engulfed by vaporous drugs, massive migrations, the turmoil of identity politics, and obsolesced families— all gone with the wind.
And, the perennial and universal Catholic Church, too, succumbed to the “smoke of Satan.” The center did not hold, and the merciless (!) march of history repeated itself. The syncretic mystery religions of the late Roman Empire cross-dressed into a polyhedral, open-bar, welcoming, amnesiac, and dhimmi sort of thing—now shorn of both the laity and Danielou’s intact and consistent magisterium.
EPILOGUE: But it also came to pass that there was a dispersal of cardinalates far beyond what once had been the West, and as far as Mongolia. Such was the historical irony of the real Holy Spirit. And, it came to pass that there was theological hope as outposts of the Benedict Option encircled the globe—like mustard seeds on the wind.
Anti Christian Hate Crimes and moreover anti Catholic Hate Crimes has been seemingly forever ignored by the media. The hate is not just in the crimes but in the souls of the media and securer intellectual class. The hates crimes are essentially the result drowning of the culture with Christian hate by the secularist in all sectors of society from all forms of the media and educational institutions. This is an issue that is essentially not discussed.
They destroyed a beautiful statue of Our Lady in Fort Myers, Florida and the sacrament of reconciliation room. This is not just in Europe. They were caught and arrested. Put on your armor.
I am appalled, but not surprised that our religious right to live in peace is being subject to violence. Satan is winning in Europe and the world.
Just imagine our viral political scene. Hate is out in the open. I cannot ignore the continuing damage Trump has caused with his MAGA radicals. He has an openly fierce hatred for Nancy Pelosi and many of his supposed “no-Trumper”. He recently showed that hate when he punned “what happened to Paul Pelosi? Did anyone see him lately?” E. Jean Carroll who succeded in his rape case, “she’s a wackjob”. Special council Jack Smith is “deranged”. Former AG Barr is a “fat pig”.
His vitriol often spews with hatred and lying. In particular, I am more concerned about the children who may be exposed and influenced by his hateful diatribe.
God save our precious children, the nation and the world from HATRED.
Yes, and you might want to examine your own heart and address the profound hatred and self-righteousness that resides there, as demonstrated by the words and spirit of your post. People in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
Dear Athanasius. We were directed by my mom, “no lies and never harbor hate for anyone”. I am a Catholic realist. I don’t HATE Trump. I do take serious issue with his un-Christian diatribe and, “in broad daylight”, his threats to families and his autocratic intent to return to power. Seems that you are defending Trump? We don’t have the bully pulpit. The main reason Trump is left to defy the constitution is our complicit silence.
God bless.
This wasn’t an article about Trump but, in case it eluded you, about anti-catholic hatred.
Furthermore your rant about Trump and your so-called “MAGA radicals” effectively does as much to spread hatred as your flimsy characterization of Trump and his supporters.
But I must commend you for your hitting all the leftist talking-points. Before you know it, you’ll be ready to take your place among the “news” readers in major media.
Dear Deacon. Please read my response to Athanasius. Hope this helps.
Thank you.
Ice cream Nancy? ok then
It does seem from your posts that your hatred of Trump is loud and clear. And again seems to rely on the old standby of the uninformed, regarding ” mean tweets”, as if tHAT is the most dangerous thing we have to face in the world. It’s not. Trump is often correct, if a bit too blunt , about the assessment of his enemies. And why tip-toe around someone who is trashing you anyway? I ask what is more dangerous? A man who calls someone a fat pig, or a president who allows dangerous drug dealers, sex traffickers and terrorists into the country to kill and injure his citizens with a shrug and then blames the other side for not rubber stamping their “plan” to let anyone in the world to enter the country that wants to ? An influx of christian hating muslims is why the number of church vandalisms are rising all over Europe.
Who is more dangerous? Who protected the country better? Trump, who raised all boats with his economic policy and made us energy independent? Or biden with massive inflation, and depleted oil reserves, and a military so woke it cannot meet enlistment numbers?. A PRESIDENT whose presidency is undermined for four years with made up and phony charges, or one whose foreign policy is so inept and reckless that enemy shark nations are circling the water around us? After the debacle in Afghanistan, Bidens only reaction in the middle east to more than 50 attacks on US bases by Iran is THREE bombings of warehouses. When we eventually sustain massive casualties of our troops, it will be because Biden refuses to use American power to keep our enemies at bay. Using it AFTER they are dead will not be helpful. One can be CERTAIN Trump would have used the power. To me the funniest thing is someone I know who recently indicated they didnt like Trump because he was “too mean” and didnt think Tim Scott could ever win because he was “too nice”. LOL!! Well, you know, give me the mean guy who will keep me and my family safe, because he is not afraid to do what needs to be done. I am voting for a PRESIDENT, not a saint. Too bad so many democrats swallow propaganda whole, and un-examined. Finally, I refute your coloring Trump supporters as “Maga radicals”. I was born and raised in a blue city in a blue state. Lifelong Catholic who toes the line in every way. Pro-police, pro-law and order.Law abiding, never used drugs. Suburban mom, Daily communicant, in church ministry, holding a post-graduate degree. Trump supporter. Be careful who you imagine to be the “great unwashed” just because they support Trump. Most of the women I call friends are exactly like me.
Have any of the beautiful historic churches that were burned down in Canada even been investigated ?
A Must Read article
https://catholicherald.co.uk/why-does-europe-ignore-the-crimes-committed-against-christianity/
Yet Another good article
https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20171/jihad-on-churches-france