Abortion: NI church leaders unite in call to stop change in legislation

Church leaders in the Province have expressed their concern at the prospect of “an almost unregulated abortion regime” being imposed on NI from Westminster.
By The Newsroom
Published 30th Sep 2019, 01:02 GMT
Most Rev Dr Richard Clarke, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh & Primate of All Ireland, Rt Rev Dr William Henry, moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Most Rev Eamon Martin, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh & Primate of All Ireland, Rev Sam McGuffin, president of the Methodist Church in Ireland, and Rev Brian Anderson, president of the Irish Council of Churches signed the joint statementMost Rev Dr Richard Clarke, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh & Primate of All Ireland, Rt Rev Dr William Henry, moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Most Rev Eamon Martin, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh & Primate of All Ireland, Rev Sam McGuffin, president of the Methodist Church in Ireland, and Rev Brian Anderson, president of the Irish Council of Churches signed the joint statement
Most Rev Dr Richard Clarke, Church of Ireland Archbishop of Armagh & Primate of All Ireland, Rt Rev Dr William Henry, moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Most Rev Eamon Martin, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Armagh & Primate of All Ireland, Rev Sam McGuffin, president of the Methodist Church in Ireland, and Rev Brian Anderson, president of the Irish Council of Churches signed the joint statement

In a joint statement released today the leaders of the Church of Ireland, Methodist Church in Ireland, Roman Catholic Church, Presbyterian Church in Ireland and the Irish Council of Churches called their members and congregations to pray, call for change, and to lobby their locally elected representatives.

The joint statement from the churches said: “There is no evidence that these changes reflect the will of the people affected by them, as they were not consulted.

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“They go far beyond the ‘hard cases’ some have been talking about.”

Under changes voted through recently by MPs at Westminster, if the Northern Ireland Executive does not re-form by October 21, abortion will be decriminalised in Northern Ireland.

At present abortion is only lawful in Northern Ireland where there is a serious risk to the life of a woman. The potential punishment is life imprisonment for breaking the law.

Earlier this month two massive rallies took place in Belfast – one supporting and one opposing the pending reforms.

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In 2016, MLAs at Stormont voted against relaxing abortion laws in Northern Ireland by 59 votes to 40.

In the joint statement church leaders said they were “gravely concerned” that the imposition of this Westminster legislation “removes from law all explicit protection for the unborn child up to 28 weeks of pregnancy, offers no specific protection for unborn babies with disability, does not prohibit abortion based on the sex of the baby and creates a potential vacuum of up to five months in Northern Ireland for unregulated abortion to exist with all the attendant health risks to women”.

They added: “We will, therefore, be encouraging all of our members, congregations and parishes to do three things.

“Firstly, to take time to specifically pray over the weekend of Saturday and Sunday, October 12 and 13 – joining with many others throughout Northern Ireland, and further afield, praying both for the protection of the unborn in our society and also for women facing difficult and challenging pregnancies along with their families.

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“We are also inviting all of our members to consider signing the online petition which Baroness O’Loan has recently launched via Change.org (http://chng.it/jkFMmSZB9n).

“We recognise that time is short, but that if our devolved institutions are re-established before October 21, this Westminster based legislation will not be imposed.

“Our Northern Ireland political parties have it in their own hands to do something about this. They all need to take risks and make the compromises necessary to find an accommodation that will restore the devolved institutions. We are calling on the secretary of state to recall the Assembly before October 21 to provide an opportunity for the parties to take the necessary steps both to prevent these laws coming onto effect and to find a better Northern Ireland solution for these challenging issues.

“Finally, we hope to meet with the secretary of state to discuss with him our concerns, concerns that we share with a significant number of our fellow citizens of all faiths and none.”

Related topics:AbortionProvincePresbyterian ChurchMPs