The Pro-Life Campaign has strongly criticised the Government’s decision to consider using Irish taxpayers’ money to fund abortions in developing countries.
Commenting on the move, Eilís Mulroy of the Pro-Life Campaign it is both “paternalistic and imperialistic for our government to adopt an attitude that Western countries know what’s best for developing countries and how they should regulate the size of their populations. What Ireland should be concerned with is improving maternal healthcare at home and abroad so that women and their unborn babies can both thrive.”
She added: “Instead our government is joining forces with the most radical international pro-abortion organisations who seek to impose their worldview of pushing abortion at every turn while neglecting to put in place genuine programmes that would safeguard the lives of both mum and baby during pregnancy.”
The Irish Times reported on Monday that the Government is ‘likely’ to lift the ban on Irish State aid going to fund abortions [1] now that domestic policy on the issue has changed. Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) is included amongst a number of planned new State aid initiatives. The Department of Foreign Affairs have said that they are “researching and scoping the range of SRHR partners and interventions that we currently support and how we might deepen our support and engagement with them into the future.”
These partners include UNFPA – the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency