Supreme Court respects democracy
Precious Life welcomes the UK Supreme Court’s judgment that rejected an appeal by a mother and a daughter in their legal battle for women in Northern Ireland to receive free abortions on the NHS in England.
Delivering the ruling, Lord Wilson said it was not for the court to "address the ethical considerations which underlie the difference" in the law regarding abortion in Northern Ireland and England.
Bernadette Smyth, founder and director of Precious Life, said that “This decision is consistent with the case in European Court of Human Rights, Vo v France [2005], in which the Court stated that abortion is a matter for national legislation.” Therefore the Supreme Court today has recognised the democratic process in Northern Ireland. “Northern Ireland abortion law, the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and the Criminal Justice Act (NI) 1945, ensure that our unborn children are protected from abortion, is consistent with the original meaning of European Convention on Human Rights 1950.
Bernadette went on to say, “No one should be entitled to an abortion because abortion is not healthcare. It is the intentional killing of an unborn child. Furthermore not one international human rights instrument recognises a right to abortion. The law in Northern Ireland protects both mother and child. In fact, Northern Ireland is among the safest places for women to give birth. Over nearly fifty years of legalised abortion in Britain, higher abortion rates have run parallel to higher incidences of stillbirths, premature births, low birth-weight neonates, cerebral palsy, and maternal deaths as direct consequences of abortion. In contrast, Northern Ireland of course displays lower rates of all illnesses and deaths associated with legalised abortion.”
Precious Life will continue working to keep abortion not only illegal but unthinkable!