John Clark, above, an American writer and father of nine, last week lamented the result of the Irish referendum on abortion, saying that ‘God was voted down at the ballot box in Ireland’ – and it was Ireland’s ‘darkest hour’.
He went on to call for an international boycott of Irish products.
Though other countries have enacted ordinances to allow abortion, the case of Ireland is particularly heartbreaking. This is a country that has bravely kept the Catholic Faith for centuries, through some rough waters.
Because of this faithfulness and its distinctive Irish characteristics, many Catholics have financially supported the nation by buying products produced in Ireland. The vote, and the pictures and videos of the celebration of the outcome, was an eye-opening experience to many of us: This isn’t the same country we have so long held up as an exemplar of Catholic culture … This makes me think that a boycott of Ireland is in order.
Things then got a whole lost worse for “pro-lifers” like Clark. Look at this headline:
It appears above a Life Site News report that says:
Ireland’s homosexual pro-abortion Prime Minister has announced that Catholic hospitals in the country will be obliged to perform abortions.
Leo Varadkar said that when the new laws liberalising abortion come into effect, even Catholic institutions will have to offer the procedure.
Individual doctors, nurses or midwives will be allowed to refuse abortions on conscience grounds, but whole institutions will not have this option.
Varadkar’s government is currently writing a law that would allow abortion on demand up to 12 weeks on “healthy babies” and in extreme cases up to 24 weeks.
The Irish taoiseach (“chief”) said that the new law would follow the model of the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013 which provided for abortion in certain circumstances and allowed medical personnel to opt out.
But he warned:
It will not, however, be possible for publicly-funded hospitals, no matter who their patron or owner is, to opt out of providing these necessary services which will be legal in this state once this legislation is passed by the Dáil (government) and Seanad (senate).
A post-referendum survey revealed that a majority of family doctors in Ireland will conscientiously object to carrying out abortions and do not intend to provide the service. Of 936 general practitioners, 68 percent would not “opt in” to become abortionists.
In response to the results of this survey, Dr Ruth Cullen of the Pro Life Campaign suggested that the Health Minister’s assumption that Irish doctors will just go along with the governments pro-abortion agenda is divorced from reality.
Listening to Minister Simon Harris you’d get the impression that GPs are fully on board with the Government’s abortion plans but nothing could be further from the truth.
Forcing GPs to participate in abortions that have nothing to do with healthcare is an extreme and unjust attack on freedom of conscience and should be resisted at all costs. It is unconscionable for Minister Harris and the Government to compel doctors who don’t wish to dispense abortion pills to refer women to colleagues who will carry out the procedure.
We are witnessing something truly appalling at present – a government that seems prepared to trample on freedom of conscience in order to keep the pretence going that their abortion proposals are somehow medically indicated and based. It is very reassuring though to see the numbers of GPs who are voicing their opposition …