Politicians who knowingly vote in support of abortion were acting in “cooperation with evil” and could not .jpg)
reconcile this with their faith, Archbishop Eamon Martin has said.
And he said most TDs were more concerned at this time with being “ex-communicated from their own party,” than they were about being excommunicated by the Church.
About 160 amendments to the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill are to be considered in the Dáil ahead of a vote, which is set to take place at around 12 midnight, RTE reports.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Morning Ireland, Archbishop Martin, who is Coadjutor Archbishop of Armagh, made what he described as a “last-minute appeal” for TDs to reconsider supporting the bill.
Dr Martin also said that talk of TDs being ex-communicated was a distraction from the substantive issue, but he said that supporting the deliberate taking of human life was “immoral”.
“Whatever happens in this vote, the direct and intentional killing of any person is always gravely immoral,” he said.
“Knowingly, willingly and intentionally voting to promote abortion which is the killing of an innocent child is cooperation with evil and cannot be reconciled with your faith”.
He called on TDs to reflect on the enormity of today’s vote and said: “This bill will make it permissible, legally, for the killing of an unborn child or the disablement of an unborn child.”
He said the bill would “fundamentally change the whole culture of medical practice in Ireland”.
The debate on this stage of the bill gets under way after this morning’s Order of Business and 165 amendments have been tabled.
It is thought likely that some changes proposed by Minister of State for European Affairs Lucinda Creighton will be rejected and she will vote against the measure.
TDs will not get to all the amendments and some are concerned that the changes proposed to the key section dealing with suicide may not be reached.
Some Government sources suggested last night that there could be some give on the 10pm deadline, but insisted there would not be any significant extension on the debate.
Minister for Health James Reilly met some of those with misgivings about the measure yesterday.
Meanwhile, the Bishop of Limerick, Dr Breandan Leahy, has said that the Government’s abortion legislation has shades of George Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm’ about it.
Bishop Leahy last night recalled the Orwellian phrase – “all are equal, but some more equal than others”.
At a Vigil for Life in St John’s Cathedral in Limerick, Bishop Leahy said the bill could enshrine in Irish law, “a hierarchy or a pecking order of human beings based on size in this State”.
“The unborn, it appears, are to be afforded little or no legal advocacy on their behalf,” he added.
And he pointedly said: “The unborn child in the womb is a human life with potential, not a potential human being.”