The Catholic hierarchy in Northern Ireland has urged people not to vote for candidates in favour of reforming abortion law in next week’s devolved assembly election.
Local bishops advised voters in a statement to follow the church’s teachings on abortion when casting their ballot next Thursday.
Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK where the Abortion Act 1967 does not apply due to opposition from the main churches and many of the political parties represented in the Stormont assembly. Abortion is available in the region only when pregnancy poses a direct threat to a woman’s life.
The bishops praised local politicians who have been “opposing multiple attempts efforts to legalise the killing of unborn babies”.
The Catholic leaders added: “The moral issue here is not whether what is proposed is abortion ‘on demand’ or some form of so-called ‘limited abortion’. The medical prognosis for the life of a child in the womb, or the extent of that child’s disabilities, is no more morally relevant than it is when considering an adult who faces the diagnosis of a life-limiting condition.”
The intervention echoes a move by a bishop in Rhode Island last week who urged American voters to back US presidential candidates who were “pro-life” over pro-choice candidates such as Hillary Clinton.
A number of women are facing prosecution in Northern Ireland for procuring abortion pills online to terminate pregnancies. One case involves a mother who obtained abortion pills for her underage daughter.
Under the Offences Against the Person Act 1861, which still applies in Northern Ireland, anyone carrying out an abortion there can be jailed for life.
