Press release from The Iona Institute
March 7, 2018 – The ruling by the Supreme Court that the unborn child has no constitutional rights other than the right to life makes the forthcoming referendum more important than ever. The Eighth Amendment is now the only constitutional protection that children have before birth. The fate of these children now lies in the hands of the people of Ireland.
Commenting on the ruling, Iona spokeswoman, Maria Steen, said: “Today’s decision of the Supreme Court highlights the necessity of the Eighth Amendment to protect the rights of children before birth. The Irish people have now become, in effect, the last line of defence in Ireland for the unborn child. It is now exclusively in our hands to decide whether to protect the fundamental right to life of the child in the womb, or to take it away. The decision could not be more important. Will we decide a group of fellow human beings, those in the womb, are deserving of less protection than we are, or will we see them, correctly, as one of us, and continue to protect them?”
She continued: “It is extremely sad that our Government decided to appeal the High Court ruling that the child before birth enjoys more rights than simply the right to life. It shows the overt hostility of the Government towards the unborn child. It wants these children to have no constitutional rights whatsoever.
We are confident that when the Irish people come to see what is truly at stake in the coming referendum, they will vote to retain the 8th amendment and not put the fate of vulnerable babies in the womb entirely into the hands of this and all future Governments”.
ENDS
