Advert does not tell the true facts about abortion

It is worth noting at the outset that there has not been “reformed” of abortion law in Northern Ireland.

The legal protection for the unborn has simply been stripped out.

Overnight Northern Ireland went from being the safest places for the unborn child to us having a completely unregulated system.

The “reform” which Amnesty trumpets means that backstreet abortions can be performed in our Province without fear of prosecution right up to 28 weeks.

Tellingly, Amnesty’s advert focuses on the “hard cases”. It references sex crime and serious foetal abnormality.

I don’t accept for a moment that creating another victim as a result of rape makes things better or that children should be denied the right to life because of it is believed they may be born with a disability (the “we kill them because we care” position).

However, to frame the recent changes to the law in Northern Ireland in this way is deeply dishonest. As Amnesty very well knows the law provides no protection for ANY child up to 24 weeks.

Furthermore, ironically for an advert which claims to be providing the “facts” about abortion Amnesty say nothing about how the abortion of a 28 week old child is performed.

No details of how a baby is torn limb from limb. No details of how a baby’s skull has to crushed. No details of how the body of the baby is discarded as waste, deemed unworthy of a grave.

After a high profile anti-slavery campaign William Wilberforce famously told the British public, “You may choose to look the other way but you can never say again you did not know”.

Future generations will judge Amnesty harshly for employing its resources to run adverts which are designed to make the people of Northern Ireland “look the other way” rather than really tell “the facts” about abortion.

Samuel Morrison, Dromore, Co Down