Abortion lights at Belfast City Hall 'on hold' as deadline nears: Legal challenge as over 20,000 sign petition against move
Controversial plans to light up Belfast City Hall to support an abortion campaign are “currently on hold” with just days to go before it’s due to happen.
Lawyers still have to give their verdict on whether a DUP challenge to the illumination is valid or not, city officials confirmed to the News Letter, leading to uncertainty over the lights.
Organised to take place on Monday evening, it’s possible the landmark building could still go green to back International Safe Abortion Day – but only if the council’s legal team comes to a conclusion over the next few days, meaning the clock is ticking.
The situation comes as more than 20,000 people signed a petition against the illumination, and a pro-life group continues to organise a protest against the move that’s to be addressed by two of the city’s unionist councillors.
Both the protest and petition have been set up by campaigners Precious Life, who plan to gather on Donegall Place in Belfast at 6.15pm on Monday before marching to city hall.
The rally is to be addressed by DUP alderman Dean McCullough, who submitted the challenge currently awaiting lawyers’ verdicts, as well as TUV councillor Ron McDowell, Aiden Carlin from nationalist party Aontu, and campaigner Adele Best.
As of this afternoon, Precious Life’s petition had been signed by over 20,700 people.
In a statement with the petition, the group hit out at the politicians who voted to go along with the illumination, accusing them of “not only neglecting their duty to improve the lives of people in Belfast by wasting council time on this initiative, but also sending mixed messages to mothers who have lost an unborn child”.
State the campaigners: “Sinn Fein and SDLP both supported baby loss certificates, which acknowledge the unborn child’s life and the mother’s pain following a miscarriage. Now they are celebrating this same loss and calling it ‘safe’.”
They go on to claim that “safe abortion is an oxymoron” and that “everyone should acknowledge abortion as a tragedy”.
A spokeswoman for Belfast Council confirmed the DUP had lodged a “call-in” challenging the decision to plough ahead with the illumination “on both procedural grounds and disproportionate community impact grounds”.
She told the News Letter: “In accordance with the council’s standing orders, [legal] counsel’s opinion has been sought in relation to the merits of the call-in and that opinion, once received, will be reported to elected members.”
The illumination was initially voted through without debate at a committee near the end of August, though at the start of this month the DUP brought the issue to the floor of the full council in an attempt to stop it.
Despite unionist opposition, however, it was pushed through on a combination of Sinn Fein, SDLP, Alliance, Green and People Before Profit votes.
The subsequent DUP call-in could see the issue brought back for another round of debates or even stopped altogether.
International Safe Abortion Day is spearheaded by Philippines-based organisation the Women’s Global Network for Reproductive Rights. It calls on governments to expand access to terminations and give money to “grassroots and feminist organisations”.
Belfast Council documents state the request to illuminate city hall in support of the day came from the National Women’s Council of Ireland, a cross-border umbrella body headquartered in Dublin.