Dawn McAvoy: It is one year since that darkest of days when Westminster imposed abortion on Northern Ireland

The removal of every explicit legal protection for every unborn baby up to their being capable of being born alive.

The implementation of prenatal disability discrimination, with the sanctioning of termination of life up to birth for any disability deemed “serious”.

For over 50 years Northern Ireland consistently voted in favour of legal protections for both lives. In 1967 our politicians chose life.

As recently as 2016 a majority of MLAs rejected abortion.

In January this year, the assembly passed a motion rejecting Westminster’s legislation and prenatal disability discrimination.

Hundreds of thousands of people who live and work here wrote and protested; 79% of public respondents to Westminster’s public consultation rejected the proposed abortion regime; all were ignored. Some 100,000 people living and bearing witness to the positive impact of pro-both laws, were deemed irrelevant.

Decades of pro-abortion activism has seemingly achieved the introduction of a conveyor belt of ‘choice’; imperfect — they are rejected; unwanted—they are discarded; unplanned — they are terminated.

It is right to remember what was done — and how — so that we inspire better, better for women, for unborn children, for society.

Both lives matter and abortion must not be normalised here as it has been elsewhere, nor must the denial of human rights for pre-born children, by abortion activists such as Amnesty International, be allowed to permeate our culture.

We commit to proclaiming truths. There is life before birth. Every abortion does end a life, and many women are harmed by abortion.

We have tragically already seen nearly 700 abortions carried out here since the end of March.

Government must be held to account and challenged to offer genuine choice. When a ‘chosen’ abortion costs less than lives being lived, statutory social services suffer.

Women in pregnancy here will face greater discrimination and coercion to ‘choose’ abortion, as abortion becomes the assumed and compassionate ‘choice’.

That is why we will always advocate for laws protecting both lives and policies supporting every life.

Both Lives Matter continues to stand with women facing pregnancy crisis by growing our services directory, signposting to organisations across Northern Ireland whose desire is to support women facing pregnancy crisis, pre and post birth as well as those who do face abortion regret.

From that darkest of days, we have seen individuals come together to offer material, emotional, practical and spiritual resources to women facing crisis. We have seen an awakening to the need to stand for life, and the danger of doing nothing or staying silent.

Church and civic leaders, from across the UK and Europe have contacted us in dismay at the unjust imposition of abortion here. Their self-reflection acknowledging that their silence and inaction, contributed to the forced law change here.

Desmond Tutu once said, “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.”

Our hope is that in hindsight, our darkest day will prove to be the point at which the tide turned against abortion and we see there is light because Both Lives Matter.

• Dawn McAvoy is co founder of Both Lives Matter, a group which says it tries to reframe the abortion debate in Northern Ireland

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