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We Will Not Be Silent: Northern Ireland's Bernadette Smyth reflects on three decades of pro-life work
In 1997, Bernadette Smyth saw an image of an aborted baby. Horrified by what she had witnessed and determined to prevent other babies from losing their lives to abortion, she founded Precious Life, now Northern Ireland’s largest pro-life organization, and the only group actively working on the streets every day.
Smyth went on to co-found the All-Ireland Rally for Life and also founded Stanton Healthcare Belfast, a pregnancy support center.
Bernadette Smyth has been working in pro-life activism in Northern Ireland for nearly 30 years.
One of her organizations, Precious Life, was founded as a grassroots street outreach and has since reached hundreds of thousands of people through engaging with the public on the streets.
In 2015, Precious Life helped establish Stanton Healthcare Belfast, a pregnancy support center offering women practical assistance and an alternative to abortion.
In October 2019, Westminster intervened during the suspension of Northern Ireland’s devolved government, and decriminalized abortion, allowing abortion up to birth. This changed the urgency and intensity of Precious Life's outreach.
Since that time, Precious Life has held regular commemorative events for babies lost to abortion.
The group also opposes Northern Ireland’s safe access zone legislation, arguing that it restricts peaceful prayer, leafleting, and offers of help outside abortion facilities.
Almost 30 years after establishing Precious Life, Smyth remains undiminished in her commitment campaigning against abortion through political lobbying, legal challenges, and grassroots street outreach. Her campaigning has made her one of Northern Ireland’s most prominent pro-life figures — praised by allies, challenged by critics, and, in her own account, driven by the conviction that every human life is created in the image of God and deserves protection.
Her activism has unfolded against a backdrop of profound legal and political upheaval. When she founded Precious Life, abortion was illegal in Northern Ireland. But in 2019, while the Northern Ireland Executive was suspended, Westminster legislated to change the region’s abortion law.
For Smyth, this marked a turning point: the cause she had pursued for decades became an even more urgent fight to protect unborn life.
Precious Life did not begin in a boardroom; it began on the streets.
In its early years, the organization established information stalls in towns and cities, distributed leaflets, gathered petition signatures, and organized major pro-life gatherings. Smyth regards this grassroots presence as the foundation of its work.
“Throughout the years, Precious Life has talked to hundreds of thousands of people through our pro-life street outreach,” Smyth said. “In an era when people often hear only what they want to hear, it is the task of pro-life activists to engage with the public on the street.”
Precious Life’s annual summer roadshow has visited Belfast, Derry, Coleraine, Enniskillen, Newry, Ballymena, Portrush, and Armagh, bringing prayer, leafleting, and face-to-face conversations directly to local communities.
“We bypass the media and meet people face-to-face,” Smyth said of the 2026 roadshow. “People stopped. People listened. People’s hearts were stirred and minds were changed.”
These encounters can have an immediate impact on women facing unexpected pregnancies.
“Our work on the streets is multifaceted,” she explained. “In the long term, many babies are saved because of the information we distribute. But sometimes a baby is saved literally ‘on the spot.'"
In 2015, Precious Life helped establish Stanton Healthcare Belfast, a pregnancy support center offering women practical assistance and an alternative to abortion. Its services include free ultrasound scans, pregnancy support, and essential supplies for mothers and babies.
“Our experience at Stanton has shown that over 70% of women considering abortion will ‘choose life’ when they see their baby in an ultrasound scan,” Smyth said. “During an ultrasound, we literally see miracles happen.”
Describing an ultrasound as “a window to the womb,” Smyth recalls the powerful moment when a woman sees her unborn baby moving on screen.
“It’s truly amazing to watch a mother’s eyes intently follow the movements on screen and see that moment of realization dawn when she recognizes the beautiful humanity of her precious baby for the first time,” she said.
For Smyth, the impact of Stanton’s work is best illustrated by the personal stories of women and children whose lives have been changed. She recalled meeting a young mother, Mel, on the street a few years ago. Mel later returned with her daughter, Anaya, to thank the volunteers who had supported her.
“Thank you for being a witness for life, and thank you for being there for me. Without your help, Anaya would not be here today,” Mel said.
Stories like this demonstrate, Smyth believes, the lasting difference that practical support can make at a crucial moment. They also explain why she continues her work despite criticism and legal challenges.
Smyth’s decades-long campaign reached a turning point in October 2019, when Westminster intervened during the suspension of Northern Ireland’s devolved government. Abortion was decriminalized, and a legal framework was established permitting abortion up to the moment of birth.
Precious Life responded with renewed determination, organizing counter-demonstrations, a lobbying campaign, and a March for Life that brought together thousands of people from across Ireland.
“22nd October 2019 was one of the darkest days in Northern Ireland’s history,” Smyth recalled. “Westminster broke all principles of democracy and devolution by forcing abortion on Northern Ireland.”
She argued that a decision with such profound moral and human consequences should never have been imposed by the British government against the wishes of those who had spent decades campaigning to protect unborn children.
“After all our years of campaigning to keep abortion out of Northern Ireland, literally overnight, we went from being a country where the womb was the safest place for unborn babies to a country where the womb became the most dangerous place for unborn babies,” she said.
Rather than accept the changes, Precious Life intensified its campaigning, launching the Fightback and Repeal Section 9 campaigns to challenge Westminster’s intervention and call for the restoration of legal protection for unborn children.
Since the law changed, Precious Life has held regular commemorative events for babies lost to abortion. Rows of tiny baby shoes represent the lives lost, transforming statistics into a powerful visual reminder of what Smyth sees as the human cost of abortion.
“The sight of those tiny shoes laid out creates a profound visual impact,” she recalled. “Each pair of baby shoes represents an innocent life lost. These memorials are not just symbolic; they are real.”
She continued: “We are talking about real children, real loss, and real tragedy.”
Smyth regards abortion as “the greatest human rights issue of our time” and believes that remaining silent in the face of injustice is a moral failure.
During a recent commemoration, she quoted Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil… Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
Her response was clear: “And so we will not be silent. We will not abandon these children. We will continue to be their voice.”
In recent years, Smyth has increasingly campaigned to defend freedom of religious expression and the right to engage in peaceful pro-life advocacy. Precious Life opposes Northern Ireland’s safe access zone legislation, arguing that it restricts peaceful prayer, leafleting, and offers of help outside abortion facilities.
“Now, simply holding a sign, distributing information leaflets, talking to a woman or offering her help, or even praying outside an abortion center” can attract penalties, Smyth said. “The work of Precious Life will continue, and we will not be deterred by this draconian law.”
Moreover, she has criticized Belfast City Council’s proposed bylaws, which Precious Life believes could restrict public preaching, prayer, and pro-life imagery in the city center.
For Smyth, the issue extends beyond abortion to the freedom to express Christian beliefs in public.
“If pro-life truth and the Christian faith can be silenced in Belfast today, it will be silenced in Derry, Dublin, Cork or London tomorrow,” she warned.
Smyth’s activism is deeply rooted in her Catholic faith. She often cites Proverbs 24:11 — ”Rescue those being dragged to the slaughter” — as a scriptural call to defend the vulnerable.
Almost 30 years after founding Precious Life, Smyth remains determined to continue campaigning until unborn children receive legal protection.
“We will never be silent. We will never surrender,” she told supporters at the All-Ireland Rally for Life. “We will keep speaking, marching, and standing together until abortion becomes not only illegal but unthinkable in Ireland once again.”
Her message is also a call to action:
“We cannot sit back and wait for change. We must be the change. We must rise up, speak out, and actively proclaim a culture of life in every town and city. Every unborn child deserves a voice, and every woman deserves real support.
We must never give up, never be silenced, and never abandon this mission until every unborn child is protected and legalized abortion becomes a thing of the past.
"Together, we are making a difference," Smyth said. "Together, we are giving a voice to the voiceless, and together we will end abortion in our lifetime.”
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
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·We Will Not Be Silent: Northern Ireland's Bernadette Smyth reflects on three decades of pro-life work
In 1997, Bernadette Smyth saw an image of an aborted baby. Horrified by what she had witnessed and determined to prevent other babies from losing their lives to abortion, she founded Precious Life, now Northern Ireland’s largest pro-life organization, and the only group actively working on the streets every day.
Smyth went on to co-found the All-Ireland Rally for Life and also founded Stanton Healthcare Belfast, a pregnancy support center.
Bernadette Smyth has been working in pro-life activism in Northern Ireland for nearly 30 years.
One of her organizations, Precious Life, was founded as a grassroots street outreach and has since reached hundreds of thousands of people through engaging with the public on the streets.
In 2015, Precious Life helped establish Stanton Healthcare Belfast, a pregnancy support center offering women practical assistance and an alternative to abortion.
In October 2019, Westminster intervened during the suspension of Northern Ireland’s devolved government, and decriminalized abortion, allowing abortion up to birth. This changed the urgency and intensity of Precious Life's outreach.
Since that time, Precious Life has held regular commemorative events for babies lost to abortion.
The group also opposes Northern Ireland’s safe access zone legislation, arguing that it restricts peaceful prayer, leafleting, and offers of help outside abortion facilities.
Almost 30 years after establishing Precious Life, Smyth remains undiminished in her commitment campaigning against abortion through political lobbying, legal challenges, and grassroots street outreach. Her campaigning has made her one of Northern Ireland’s most prominent pro-life figures — praised by allies, challenged by critics, and, in her own account, driven by the conviction that every human life is created in the image of God and deserves protection.
Her activism has unfolded against a backdrop of profound legal and political upheaval. When she founded Precious Life, abortion was illegal in Northern Ireland. But in 2019, while the Northern Ireland Executive was suspended, Westminster legislated to change the region’s abortion law.
For Smyth, this marked a turning point: the cause she had pursued for decades became an even more urgent fight to protect unborn life.
Precious Life did not begin in a boardroom; it began on the streets.
In its early years, the organization established information stalls in towns and cities, distributed leaflets, gathered petition signatures, and organized major pro-life gatherings. Smyth regards this grassroots presence as the foundation of its work.
“Throughout the years, Precious Life has talked to hundreds of thousands of people through our pro-life street outreach,” Smyth said. “In an era when people often hear only what they want to hear, it is the task of pro-life activists to engage with the public on the street.”
Precious Life’s annual summer roadshow has visited Belfast, Derry, Coleraine, Enniskillen, Newry, Ballymena, Portrush, and Armagh, bringing prayer, leafleting, and face-to-face conversations directly to local communities.
“We bypass the media and meet people face-to-face,” Smyth said of the 2026 roadshow. “People stopped. People listened. People’s hearts were stirred and minds were changed.”
These encounters can have an immediate impact on women facing unexpected pregnancies.
“Our work on the streets is multifaceted,” she explained. “In the long term, many babies are saved because of the information we distribute. But sometimes a baby is saved literally ‘on the spot.'"
In 2015, Precious Life helped establish Stanton Healthcare Belfast, a pregnancy support center offering women practical assistance and an alternative to abortion. Its services include free ultrasound scans, pregnancy support, and essential supplies for mothers and babies.
“Our experience at Stanton has shown that over 70% of women considering abortion will ‘choose life’ when they see their baby in an ultrasound scan,” Smyth said. “During an ultrasound, we literally see miracles happen.”
Describing an ultrasound as “a window to the womb,” Smyth recalls the powerful moment when a woman sees her unborn baby moving on screen.
“It’s truly amazing to watch a mother’s eyes intently follow the movements on screen and see that moment of realization dawn when she recognizes the beautiful humanity of her precious baby for the first time,” she said.
For Smyth, the impact of Stanton’s work is best illustrated by the personal stories of women and children whose lives have been changed. She recalled meeting a young mother, Mel, on the street a few years ago. Mel later returned with her daughter, Anaya, to thank the volunteers who had supported her.
“Thank you for being a witness for life, and thank you for being there for me. Without your help, Anaya would not be here today,” Mel said.
Stories like this demonstrate, Smyth believes, the lasting difference that practical support can make at a crucial moment. They also explain why she continues her work despite criticism and legal challenges.
Smyth’s decades-long campaign reached a turning point in October 2019, when Westminster intervened during the suspension of Northern Ireland’s devolved government. Abortion was decriminalized, and a legal framework was established permitting abortion up to the moment of birth.
Precious Life responded with renewed determination, organizing counter-demonstrations, a lobbying campaign, and a March for Life that brought together thousands of people from across Ireland.
“22nd October 2019 was one of the darkest days in Northern Ireland’s history,” Smyth recalled. “Westminster broke all principles of democracy and devolution by forcing abortion on Northern Ireland.”
She argued that a decision with such profound moral and human consequences should never have been imposed by the British government against the wishes of those who had spent decades campaigning to protect unborn children.
“After all our years of campaigning to keep abortion out of Northern Ireland, literally overnight, we went from being a country where the womb was the safest place for unborn babies to a country where the womb became the most dangerous place for unborn babies,” she said.
Rather than accept the changes, Precious Life intensified its campaigning, launching the Fightback and Repeal Section 9 campaigns to challenge Westminster’s intervention and call for the restoration of legal protection for unborn children.
Since the law changed, Precious Life has held regular commemorative events for babies lost to abortion. Rows of tiny baby shoes represent the lives lost, transforming statistics into a powerful visual reminder of what Smyth sees as the human cost of abortion.
“The sight of those tiny shoes laid out creates a profound visual impact,” she recalled. “Each pair of baby shoes represents an innocent life lost. These memorials are not just symbolic; they are real.”
She continued: “We are talking about real children, real loss, and real tragedy.”
Smyth regards abortion as “the greatest human rights issue of our time” and believes that remaining silent in the face of injustice is a moral failure.
During a recent commemoration, she quoted Dietrich Bonhoeffer: “Silence in the face of evil is itself evil… Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.”
Her response was clear: “And so we will not be silent. We will not abandon these children. We will continue to be their voice.”
In recent years, Smyth has increasingly campaigned to defend freedom of religious expression and the right to engage in peaceful pro-life advocacy. Precious Life opposes Northern Ireland’s safe access zone legislation, arguing that it restricts peaceful prayer, leafleting, and offers of help outside abortion facilities.
“Now, simply holding a sign, distributing information leaflets, talking to a woman or offering her help, or even praying outside an abortion center” can attract penalties, Smyth said. “The work of Precious Life will continue, and we will not be deterred by this draconian law.”
Moreover, she has criticized Belfast City Council’s proposed bylaws, which Precious Life believes could restrict public preaching, prayer, and pro-life imagery in the city center.
For Smyth, the issue extends beyond abortion to the freedom to express Christian beliefs in public.
“If pro-life truth and the Christian faith can be silenced in Belfast today, it will be silenced in Derry, Dublin, Cork or London tomorrow,” she warned.
Smyth’s activism is deeply rooted in her Catholic faith. She often cites Proverbs 24:11 — ”Rescue those being dragged to the slaughter” — as a scriptural call to defend the vulnerable.
Almost 30 years after founding Precious Life, Smyth remains determined to continue campaigning until unborn children receive legal protection.
“We will never be silent. We will never surrender,” she told supporters at the All-Ireland Rally for Life. “We will keep speaking, marching, and standing together until abortion becomes not only illegal but unthinkable in Ireland once again.”
Her message is also a call to action:
“We cannot sit back and wait for change. We must be the change. We must rise up, speak out, and actively proclaim a culture of life in every town and city. Every unborn child deserves a voice, and every woman deserves real support.
We must never give up, never be silenced, and never abandon this mission until every unborn child is protected and legalized abortion becomes a thing of the past.
"Together, we are making a difference," Smyth said. "Together, we are giving a voice to the voiceless, and together we will end abortion in our lifetime.”
Live Action News is pro-life news and commentary from a pro-life perspective.
Our work is possible because of our donors. Please consider giving to further our work of changing hearts and minds on issues of life and human dignity.
Contact editor@liveaction.org for questions, corrections, or if you are seeking permission to reprint any Live Action News content.
Guest Articles: To submit a guest article to Live Action News, email editor@liveaction.org with an attached Word document of 800-1000 words. Please also attach any photos relevant to your submission if applicable. If your submission is accepted for publication, you will be notified within three weeks. Guest articles are not compensated (see our Open License Agreement). Thank you for your interest in Live Action News!
Isabella Childs
·Activism
Nancy Flanders
·Guest Column
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·Guest Column
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·Human Interest
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