Alabama law has driven abortion advocates hysterical

Alabama’s introduction of new legal protection for children before birth has driven abortion advocates almost to the point of hysteria.
Lady Gaga, just one of a long list of celebrities who have condemned Alabama's new laws virtually outlawing abortions. She described it as 'heinous', an 'outrage' and a 'travesty', adding a slew of hashtags on Twitter including #NoUterusNoOpinionLady Gaga, just one of a long list of celebrities who have condemned Alabama's new laws virtually outlawing abortions. She described it as 'heinous', an 'outrage' and a 'travesty', adding a slew of hashtags on Twitter including #NoUterusNoOpinion
Lady Gaga, just one of a long list of celebrities who have condemned Alabama's new laws virtually outlawing abortions. She described it as 'heinous', an 'outrage' and a 'travesty', adding a slew of hashtags on Twitter including #NoUterusNoOpinion

This is because they know that the 1973 US Supreme Court ruling in Roe v Wade, which legalised abortion up to birth is on the verge of being overturned.

Recognition of the human rights of unborn children in the US is also a terrifying prospect for British abortionists who are now using events in Alabama to advance their agenda of repealing all meaningful legal protection for babies across the UK through the decriminalisation of abortion.

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But before they can do this they must impose abortion on demand on Northern Ireland.

Liam GibsonLiam Gibson
Liam Gibson

There are only a few similarities between the legal situation in Northern Ireland and Alabama and these are largely superficial.

Our law is a combination of statute and case law, specifically the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Act 1945 and judicial decisions such as R v Bourne.

Our law is routinely attacked for being old. While the Offences Against the Person Act is certainly old, the principle on which it’s based is far older.

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In fact, it dates back to the fifth century before Christ when the Hippocratic oath, the foundation of Western medical ethics, prohibited doctors from killing their patients through abortion and euthanasia.

Both the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Declaration on the Rights of the Child recognise that “the child by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth”.

The law in Northern Ireland defends the human rights of all unborn children regardless of their disabilities or the circumstances of their conception.

Although abortion advocates tend to focus on so-called hard cases, such as rape, in reality, those campaigning for decriminalisation seek the removal of all meaningful legal protection from every child, not just those conceived through sexual crime.

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In Britain, the aims of the abortion lobby in Britain are becoming more radical.

In October last year a bill was introduced in the House of Commons by Labour MP Diana Johnson which sought to repeal part of the 1861 act – section 60 – which makes it illegal to conceal the death of a child born alive.

Such a law would help ensure that anyone who secretly disposed of the body of a child who had been killed after delivery would not face prosecution. This is how extreme the British abortion industry has become.

Abortion is not health care. It is not a human right. It is an act of lethal violence directed at an innocent child.

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All women regardless of how they become pregnant need real support.

A society is judged by the way it treats its most vulnerable members and our laws protect both women and children. In the last 50 years, they have saved the lives of more than 100,000 babies.

The fact that our legislation remains faithful to the founding principles of medical ethics and human rights is something of which the people of Northern Ireland can justly be proud.

• Liam Gibson is Northern Ireland political officer with Society for The Protection of the Unborn, which was founded in 1967 and in January opened its first Northern Ireland office