Pro Life Campaign welcomes reduction in abortion rate

The latest Irish abortion figures released today by the British Department of Health* show another reduction in the number of Irish women travelling to Britain for abortion.

In 2009, 4,422 Irish women travelled to Britain for abortions, down from 4,600 for the previous year. It is the eighth consecutive year that Irish abortions have declined after more than a decade of upward trends.

Commenting on the latest figures, Dr Ruth Cullen of the Pro-Life Campaign said:

The Pro-Life Campaign welcomes the downward trend in Ireland's abortion rate.

Some have suggested the reduction in abortions may be as a result of more Irish women opting for abortions in other European countries. But this is purely anecdotal as there is no statistical evidence to back up these claims. Holland is often mentioned as a country where more Irish women may increasingly travel for abortions but the official Dutch figures in recent years show little or no change in the number of abortions on foreign nationals.

Groups advocating abortion in Ireland claim that we need to introduce abortion here to “confront the reality of crisis pregnancy.” This attitude completely ignores the humanity of the unborn child and the latest peer reviewed research showing the negative consequences of abortion for women. Rather than seek to have abortion introduced in Ireland, we should see the latest reduction in the abortion rate as very encouraging and work together to ensure this downward trend continues.

Ireland’s abortion rate is now 4.4 per 1,000 female residents aged 15-44 where Britain’s is 17.5.

*Statistical Bulletin, Summary Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2009 (Published 25/05/10)

Who's behind the push for Abortion in Ireland?

IFPA and Irish Examiner helps Human Rights Watch push for abortion in Ireland

Human Rights Watch is a renowned abortion advocacy group so the news that it recently issued another document giving out about another country not having introduced a liberal abortion regime is yawnfully predictable.

This time it’s Ireland’s turn. Imagine the surprise on reading that a pro-abortion lobby group thinks it’s awful we don’t have abortion!

It does, however, have one interesting fact. A note on page 53 states, ‘Human Rights Watch is particularly grateful for the information, support, expertise and feedback provided by many staff members of the Irish Family Planning Association.’

Another disappointment and something which must be addressed is the way the Irish Examiner newspaper gave the story top billing two days running and failed to report a single word from the Pro Life Campaign taking issue with the report. The decision of the Irish Examiner to give the story such prominence lacks all credibility and highlights its strong ideological bias in favour of a pro-abortion position.