The Guardian Exposure: THE LAW

SECOND JOURNALIST ON 'THE EXPOSURE LIST':

HENRY MCDONALD 

During these past few months we have been subjected to an unprecedented attack of pro-abortion articles from The Guardian. Precious Life’s latest project, ‘The Guardian Exposure’, is all about challenging the journalists responsible for those articles.

Yesterday we shared with you the beginning of the first instalment of ‘The Guardian Exposure’ which concerns the law on abortion in Northern Ireland. Today we are continuing with the first instalment and the next journalist on ‘the exposure list’ is Henry Mc Donald.

Henry McDonald

To correct Henry McDonald who stated that “the only law applying to abortion in Northern Ireland is the Offences Against the Person Act 1861”,[1] abortion is a criminal offence in Northern Ireland, governed not only by sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, governing the crime of abortion which protects the unborn child from conception to full term, but also section 25 of the Criminal Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 1945 (mirroring section 1 of the Infant Life Preservation Act 1929), governing the crime of child destruction which protects the child ‘capable of being born alive’.^[2]

Henry McDonald’s article on Judge Horner’s ruling in the recent judicial review brought by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission contains a dangerously deceptive quote from Breedagh Hughes, the Director of the Royal College of Midwives Northern Ireland:

“Today’s ruling is extremely welcome. It now gives midwives and other health professionals legal protection and a release from the fear of prosecution.”^[3]

To correct Breedagh Hughes, this judgment did not give midwives or other health professionals any legal protection or free them in any way from the threat of prosecution. As clearly stated in Precious Life’s press release which was sent to every media contact, including The Guardian, on the day of the ruling, Judge Horner’s conclusion that the illegality of abortion in cases of rape, incest and when an unborn child has been diagnosed with a life-limiting disability was in breach of a woman’s Article 8 right to ‘private and family life’ did not change the law on abortion in Northern Ireland.

This was to become even clearer on 16^th December when Judge Horner reached his final conclusion in the case. He acknowledged that to interpret the law in Northern Ireland to allow for abortion in the above cases would be “a step too far”. Instead, he made a ‘declaration of incompatibility’, meaning that the matter of introducing new legislation is now for the Northern Ireland Assembly to decide.

It is very disappointing that Henry McDonald could not bring himself to quote more than four words from Bernadette Smyth, the director of Precious Life. He allowed her words “open the floodgates” to be rebutted by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, but couldn’t allow Breedagh Hughes’ ridiculous claim to be corrected by Bernadette Smyth. 

Finally, Henry McDonald also failed to make clear that Judge Horner dismissed the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission’s claim that “forcing women like Ewart to leave the jurisdiction away from support networks amounted to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment”.^[4]

We must show these journalists that we will not tolerate their sickening disdain for unborn children and scathing attack on the law in Northern Ireland.

Let them know that you are now boycotting The Guardian.

You can do this by writing to: guardian.readers@theguardian.com

 

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