Time is ripe for unionists to present policies which are not just anti-abortion, but pro-life

Taken along with Gerry Adams’ announcement that he will be stepping down as party president next year, we can take it that Sinn Fein is currently repositioning itself in the political firmament.

Fundamentally, the conference marks the culmination of a long process, which places Sinn Fein on the ‘liberal-left’ of the political spectrum.

The rationale behind this transition is to create distance between their murderously violent past, and to develop a visage that is simultaneously acceptable to Government elites in the Irish Republic, and left-wing media outlets throughout Britain and the world.

As such, Sinn Fein have their sights firmly set on becoming ‘the establishment’.

Unionists (and the Irish government as well) should remember Danny Morrison’s speech in 1981, when he stated Sinn Fein’s intention to “...take power in Ireland”. In their calculations Sinn Fein have clearly decided to target a younger, urban, and more radical voter demographic, while taking the risk of alienating their traditional, more conservative-Catholic, base of support.

Sinn Fein’s new position on abortion clearly takes inspiration from the 1967 Abortion Act as it currently stands on mainland Britain: it allows for the provision of abortion in the case of rape, incest, fatal foetal abnormality, or where there is judged to be a threat to a woman’s life, health or mental health.

According to a report from the Department of Health, 97% of abortions last year (180,794 in total) were given a ‘ground C’ category, where it was judged that continuing with the pregnancy could hold substantial risks to the physical or mental health of the mother.

Of these, only 34 ‘ground C’ abortions were undertaken for physical health problems, e.g. excessive vomiting.

Consequently, the vast majority of abortions carried out in Britain over recent years have been the result of the mother reporting mental health problems arising from her pregnancy.

We may wonder, then, if abortion is being pursued as a cheaper alternative to funding adequate social and mental healthcare for expecting mothers.

Therefore, in substance, if not in letter, the 1967 Act provides for abortion on demand. And Sinn Fein have just committed to an extraordinarily similar position.

The time is ripe for unionism to present positive policy ideas which can speak to ordinary, decent people from all sections of the community; including those so recently abandoned by Sinn Fein.

The message should be pro-active: not just anti-abortion, but pro-life.

Advocating greater investment in childcare services, raising the visibility of, and support for, adoptive parents, developing mental-health services for pre-natal mothers, and supporting research for natal and pre-natal development would all be excellent policy initiatives sure to garner cross-community support and promote social development.

To meet the coming challenges unionism should not seek to fundamentally change or reinvent itself, but to re-discover the joy and self-affirmation to be found in the development of just policies and the undertaking of righteous action.

Philip Lynn, Gracehill