Pro-lifers in Northern Ireland react to forced legalization of abortion with #DarkestDay

Last week, Northern Ireland’s governmental body failed to reassemble in a meaningful way, and Westminster’s forced regime of abortion until 28 weeks came into effect without any say from the people of Northern Ireland. The exact moment when the government fell apart before the deadline set by Parliament in London began circulating on social media. The walkout of the Social Democratic and Labor Party paved the way for Westminster’s cruel and oppressive rule to come into force.

In response to the tragic move and the betrayal of the government, people in Northern Ireland took to social media to express their shock and dismay. 

UK Right to Life and others used the hashtag #DarkestDay on Twitter and on Facebook, and changed profile pictures to black to mourn for the lives to be lost.

READ: Westminster’s new abortion guidelines for Northern Ireland lack conscience protections

Some abortion supporters were outraged that Northern Ireland, the scene of sectarian violence between 1968 and 1998, colloquially known as “the troubles,” would call the day abortion was legalized the “darkest day.” But Michael Kelly, editor of the Irish Catholic, pointed out that the visible violence of the troubles would soon be dwarfed by the lives lost in the womb. “More than 3,600 people lost their lives during the conflict in the North. London’s imposition of abortion will surpass that in just a few years. The replacement of one form of violence with another is sickening. #Notinourname.” This is because earlier this year, the Both Lives Matter campaign estimated 10,000 lives a year were saved on account of NI’s previously restrictive abortion laws. In March, they celebrated 100,000 lives saved from abortion. 

Despite the High Court ruling earlier this month that declared that Northern Ireland’s pro-life laws were contrary to human rights, Northern Irish pro-lifers maintain there is no right to kill an innocent baby in the womb. As Gavin Boyne from Students for Life Ireland proclaimed, “There is no such thing as a ‘Right’ to Abortion. Not in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, not by the European Court of Human Rights, nor in the Irish Constitution. Abortion merely ignores the most important of Rights – to Life.” 

CARE in Northern Ireland vowed to continue the fight, as they lamented in a video that Northern Ireland turned in a moment from being one the of the safest places for babies in the womb, to one of the most dangerous. 

Despite all the sad news, Both Lives Matter reminded others that Northern Ireland is still fundamentally a pro-life people, despite the declaration from on high, and offered resources to anyone experiencing an unplanned pregnancy in need of help.

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