Precious Life 'Picket' Political Parties Headquarters
Today 30th April, leading pro-life group, Precious Life, organised a number of pickets as part of their Every Vote Counts campaign. Precious Life called on Sinn Fein and the Alliance party to protect the most vulnerable in society; the unborn child. As part of this campaign we also presented Peter Robinson, the leader of DUP, with an open letter on behalf of a number of organisations, including Every Life Counts and Stanton Healthcare.
In the run up to the Westminster Elections on Thursday 7th May, Precious Life is also calling on the people of Northern Ireland to make Friday 1st May a RED LETTER DAY for our unborn children. We are asking everyone to contact political candidates by phone, email, Facebook, Twitter or to just call into their preferred candidates’ offices to ask them one question: ‘if elected, will you defend the right to life of all unborn children?’ If a political candidate cannot make the promise to stand up and speak out for the most vulnerable in our society, the unborn child, he or she cannot represent the people of Northern Ireland at Westminster.
We appreciate that abortion is not the only issue facing the voter; of course there is education, employment, health services, cultural interests, policing, and other issues that cause divide. But if a political candidate is unwilling to protect the life of a little baby, why would a candidate be concerned about a voter’s health, education, employment or culture? The right to life is a fundamental right. Without the right to life, all other rights are meaningless.
For contact details of individual candidates, please visit the Precious Life website:www.preciouslife.com or telephone 028 9027 8484.
OPEN LETTER TO PETER ROBINSON
Dear Peter Robinson,
This open letter is in response to your announcement last week that DUP are ‘unlikely to oppose the Justice Minister David Ford’s proposal to allow abortion in cases of fatal foetal abnormality’. You stated that the DUP are ‘likely to be given a free vote on the issue’. We are very concerned that members of a party that has historically and unwaveringly opposed abortion would buckle under pressure at a time when there is such a fierce push to legalise abortion in Northern Ireland.
Until now the DUP has been a great defender of the unborn child, stopping any attempts to bring abortion into Northern Ireland. Pro-life beliefs have been at the heart of DUP principles. Has this changed?
Why did DUP not make a party submission during David Ford’s consultation?
Why would a party historically and unwaveringly opposed to abortion be given a free vote on the killing of terminally ill unborn children?
Can the party leader or any dissenting members explain why a terminally ill unborn child is not deserving of his or her right to life, the same as all other unborn children?
We urge you to remain strong in the tradition of the DUP. To protect every child from the moment of conception.
We are appealing to you and individual members of DUP to have the compassion to listen to Every Life Counts Northern Ireland, an organisation representing parents whose precious unborn children were diagnosed with terminal disabilities and who are urging better provision of perinatal hospice care in Northern Ireland. Derbhille McGill’s precious daughter, Clodagh Treise, was prenatally diagnosed with Patau Syndrome and received no support at her hospital:
‘We were left to cope with the devastating diagnosis and never got any help from anywhere. We were told that our baby would most probably die as soon as she was born. But the doctors were wrong. Clodagh Treise went on to live with her family for 33 days and every minute of every day is engraved in my heart. Every life is precious and has value; no matter how short that life may be. Proper perinatal hospice care must be given to pregnant mothers whose receive poor prenatal diagnoses.’
If any member of the DUP thinks that an unborn child having a terminal disability means that he or she is not deserving of his or her right to life, that member must be held accountable and explain why he has decided to betray the trust and support of his or her voters.
Yours sincerely,
Precious Life
Youth for Life
Stanton Healthcare Belfast
Women’s Network
Every Life Counts
Every Vote Counts"