PRECIOUS LIFE VOWS TO FIGHT HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION LEGAL CHALLENGE
06/01/2015: In response to the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission’s announcement on 10th December 2014 that it is to take the Department of Justice to the High Court to demand the legalisation of abortion in Northern Ireland, Bernadette Smyth, the Director of Precious Life, sought legal advice and made clear Precious Life’s plan to fight this challenge through the courts to ensure that the rights of the unborn child will be protected in law, policy and practice in Northern Ireland.
Today, Precious Life, the leading pro-life group in Northern Ireland, appeared in court to apply for leave to be involved as third party interveners in this landmark case.
The right to life of all members of the human family, regardless of any distinction or status, is enshrined in internationally agreed declarations, conventions, and covenants such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948, the principles of which are specifically endorsed in the European Convention on Human Rights 1950, the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1959, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1976.
However, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC) will not seek to protect the right to life of unborn children under threat of legalised abortion. Rather, according to the NIHRC, the law in Northern Ireland, which ensures that every human being, born and unborn, has a right to life, a right not to be intentionally killed, is in violation of human rights!
Bernadette Smyth declared, ‘contrary to what the NIHRC would like to believe, not one international human rights instrument recognises a right to abortion’.
This move of the NIHRC is undemocratic, and Precious Life calls on the Northern Ireland Assembly to vigorously oppose any change in legislation that would destroy Northern Ireland’s unborn children.