The Catholic Archbishop of Armagh, Dr Eamon Martin, has accused Northern Ireland’s Justice Minister of “excluding” pro-life arguments from his consultation on legislating for abortion in cases of children with life-limiting conditions.
Minister David Ford, an Alliance Member of the Local Assembly (MLA), has recommended that the law should be changed to allow such children to be aborted, and has begun a public consultation on his proposed changes.
But Archbishop Martin told the Press Association that the Church would be making a “robust and unapologetic” defence of “innocent and terminally ill babies in the womb.”
“I want to bring to your attention a consultation document from the Minister for Justice in Northern Ireland which proposes that totally innocent and terminally ill babies in the womb will no longer have an absolute right to life, nor the right to all the care and medical support that we would expect and wish for any child or adult who is terminally ill,” he said.
“Notwithstanding the extraordinary and unprecedented attempt of the consultation document to exclude pro-life arguments from the debate, when we meet the Minister and his officials this week, a delegation from the Catholic Church will be making a robust and unapologetic defence of the right to life of both mothers and their terminally ill children during pregnancy and calling for all the love and support that we as a society can give them.”
He said this must include the ready availability of good quality before and after birth hospice care and counselling for those facing the trauma of having a terminally ill unborn child.
“With the support of my fellow bishops, I encourage all those who support a culture of life to respond this week to the consultation process of the Department of Justice and to ask their politicians where they stand on these issues” he concluded.
Currently, abortion is illegal in Northern Ireland, but a loophole in the law allows abortions to take place in private medical centres. In addition to considering cases of unborn children with terminal illnesses, Minister Ford is also considering whether or not to legalise abortion in cases of rape.
