Precious Life were reported to security staff at Queen’s University in Belfast for “harassing and intimidating students” by handing out ‘VOTE for LIFE’ leaflets. The complaint was made by Joanne Dunlop - a candidate for the Green Party in the forthcoming local council elections.

Members of Precious Life were distributing leaflets outside the University at the launch their VOTE for LIFE Campaign. They were invited there by Queen’s University Pro-life Society.

The leaflets urge people to vote for pro-life candidates in the forthcoming election on 5th May and feature a smiling baby saying “Will you protect the rights of a child BEFORE birth?” We also displayed large 3ft signs of the smiling baby.

We had been distributing leaflets for an hour. It was just after our photographer had left that Joanne Dunlop arrived and started arguing with our volunteers. She told them they were not allowed to distribute the leaflets and said she was reporting them to the campus security for harassing and intimidating students. The security staff arrived but left after they seen the Precious Life volunteers were doing nothing wrong.

Joanne Dunlop is a candidate for the ‘Green Party’ in the Bangor West Consistency of North Down Borough Council. Her election material states that she a member of the Management Committee of ‘Brook’ - the controversial organisation that gives contraceptive drugs to children as young as 11 years old without their parents consent. She has also campaigned for several years for the legalisation of abortion in Northern Ireland. She is also a member of the pro-abortion group - ‘Queen's University Pro-Choice Society’

In a statement to the media, Director of Precious Life, Bernadette Smyth, who was holding one of the pro-life signs, said, “I was amazed that anyone could say a picture of a smiling baby is intimidating. But when I realised who was making the complaint it became obvious.”

She added, “Is it not hypocritical for an election candidate, who will distribute her own election leaflets over these next few weeks, to try to deny us our democratic right to hand out leaflets?”

Bernadette Smyth concluded, “Today’s events show the importance of our VOTE for LIFE Campaign. Voters need to question the election candidates about where they stand on the issue of protecting unborn children. I hope voters in North Down will now see what Joanne Dunlop really stands for. Most people regard the ‘Greens’ as a Party campaigning to protect the environment. Yet their candidate is opposed to protecting a child in the womb. What is the point of having a clean environment if our children are denied the right to ever to see it?”



See more photos

VOTE for LIFE webpage

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