A Momentous March for true Civil Rights

Precious Life came together on Saturday 6th October in Derry City to protest Sinn Féin’s cruel and extreme abortion agenda. The party are now openly and unapologetically targeting the unborn babies of Northern Ireland with the same abhorrent abortion agenda that so ardently advocated the removal of the right to life for unborn children in the Republic of Ireland.

Following the tragic result of Ireland’s abortion referendum, Northern leader of Sinn Féin Michelle O’Neill was pictured smiling broadly with Southern leader Mary Lou McDonald holding a celebratory sign aloft that read, ‘The North is Next’ as the two women joined jeering crowds who celebrated with disturbing jubilation the passing of the death penalty for millions of future Irish babies.  

Indeed, it is clear that Sinn Fein have now become the abortion party of Ireland. At Belfast’s ‘Rally for Choice’ this summer, Michelle O’Neill was present marching for abortion. Also this summer, she met with notoriously pro-abortion English Labour MP Stella Creasy at Westminster to discuss tactics for forcing the legalised killing of the unborn onto pro-life Northern Ireland.

On Friday 5th October, one day before the March was to take place, Mary Lou McDonald came out once again in an effort to drive forward the party’s abortion agenda. 

“In the north today, many citizens are still experiencing a denial of their rights. The DUP, facilitated by the British Government, continue to block Irish language rights, marriage equality, access to women’s health and the rights of victims,” she told the Derry Journal.

The Pro-Life fight-back

Bernadette Smyth, Director of Precious Life, told the Derry Journal that Precious Life would also be attending the March to create a large pro-life presence.

She said: “Sinn Féin campaigned for the removal of all legal protection for unborn babies in the Republic of Ireland with the repeal of the 8th Amendment. And leading members of the Party recently signed a letter calling for the ‘decriminalisation’ of abortion in Northern Ireland, which would make it legal to kill babies in the womb right up to the moment of birth. Northern Ireland has seen enough bloodshed throughout ‘the Troubles’ following 1968, without now killing the most innocent and defenceless in society - our unborn children.”

READ the comments in full here: https://www.derryjournal.com/news/mcdonald-urges-support-for-civil-rights-march-1-8658179

Abortion has been pushed centre stage by Sinn Féin, however whilst they have been accelerating their efforts to introduce abortion here, discontent and anger with the party has grown greatly. More and more nationalists have become disappointed with Sinn Féin and their startling infatuation with abortion. An increasing number of those who have supported the party time and time again have become hurt and angered by their contempt for human life.

Hijacking History

Moreover, Sinn Féin have been accused of “trying to hijack history” in their claim that they were the grassroots civil rights movement.  Many people involved in the civil rights movement in Derry 50 years ago are deeply resentful of the fact that Sinn Féin can come along after all these years and parade through the streets of Derry as though they are the sole inheritors of the civil rights tradition. Even more significantly, they do not understand the concept of civil rights, now exploiting the civil rights tradition to propel their plans to remove the right to life - the most fundamental and unalienable right of all - from those yet to be born. 

We have received countless messages and letters from people who have pledged never to vote for the party again, disgruntled and disturbed by what they have become and by their betrayal of the most basic principles and morals.  A huge number or Pro-life Nationalists, Unionists and everyone in between have had their eyes opened wide in recent months to the barbaric, regressive and downright cruel abortion agenda of Sinn Féin. How can a political party who claim to stand for the values enshrined in the 1916 Irish Proclamation advocate the cold-blooded killing of scores of Irish children in the warped name of ‘choice’?  What ever happened to the sacred promise, ‘Cherish all the children of the Nation equally’?

Speaking at Sinn Féin’s abortion-themed Ard Fheis back in June, party leader Mary Lou McDonald said:

“The Eighth Amendment has been repealed. This Ard Fheis has voted to decide party policy and we now move forward together, united in our determination to see the necessary legislation passed without delay. That is our duty to all the women of Ireland. Change is coming. There is nothing to fear in that change. And let me say this loud and clear – the North is next. No woman will be left behind.” Their pro-abortion message is as unequivocal as it is ruthless.

A March to Remember

Bernadette Smyth, speaking at Precious Life’s pro-life demonstration on Saturday, thanked crowds for showing courage in their convictions and making the effort to attend such an important march. She highlighted that Ireland’s pro-life movement today is the real civil rights movement of 2018 because pro-lifers recognise that legitimate human rights must begin in the womb.

She addressed the joyful pro-life gathering: “You are here today because you support real human and civil rights. You believe that Northern Ireland’s pro-life laws are truly beautiful and precious, and you are willing to travel here today to stand up for our laws which have and will continue to protect thousands of babies and women in Northern Ireland. We are here today because despite intense pressure and contempt from Sinn Féin, Westminster and the entire abortion lobby, we know that without the right to life, all other rights are meaningless. You are here today because you reject the violence and cruelty of abortion. You march today because you believe that women and babies always deserve better than abortion.”

When Precious Life arrived at the march, we were given very strict orders that we were to be separated from the ‘actual’ March, and we were not allowed to join on.  Instead, Sinn Féin stewards kept us apart at the back and we marched separately – we were not disheartened by the vitriol and contempt of Sinn Féin, but we marched with joy in our hearts and smiles on our faces, content and proud in the knowledge that we are part of the real civil rights movement of today, very much alive and on fire for real justice, respect and equality for everyone, born and unborn.

Bernadette Smyth likened Ireland’s tireless pro-life movement to the civil rights movement of 1950s America. She told the crowd: “Rosa Parks, the heroic civil rights leader who resisted racism in America, was told she couldn’t sit in the white section of the bus. She was ordered to get to the back to the coloured section and give up her seat for a white person, but she resisted. She had a determination to stand up for herself and for the oppressed – she said, ‘No, I will not get to the back because I don’t feel I should have to.’

We have been told today and time and time again to sit down, shut up and get to the back. But we will never be silenced. We will always stand up for those whose rights are being denied to them. As Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks’ fellow leader in the American Civil Rights Movement said, ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’ That is why we are here today. Thank you for fighting against the greatest injustice in the world.”

So many of those who so bravely marched in the original civil rights march in Derry 50 years ago were proudly marching with us on Saturday. Charlene McDaid and her family, original members of the Civil Rights movement, were in attendance. “50 years ago my Daddy marched for my Civil Rights. Today I marched alongside him with my Mammy and my friends for the Civil Rights of my future children and all the unborn children of Ireland and beyond,” Charlene wrote.

The pro-life movement is under increasing persecution and our pro-abortion forces and the media are determined to suppress our message. But we will remain pro-life and proud, we will not be silenced, and we will fight to take back our culture and our country.  With your help, we will continue to keep abortion not only illegal in Northern Ireland but unthinkable. Thank you to all the brave and relentless advocates for life who stood with us on Saturday!






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