Precious Life has welcomed the appointment of the new Health Minister - Edwin Poots - in the Northern Ireland Assembly.

The former Health Minister - Michael McGimpsey - lost his ministerial seat. During his time in office, Mr McGimpsey refused to withdraw controversial abortion guidelines issued by the Department of Health. These guidelines misinterpreted the law and would have effectively legalised abortion in Northern Ireland 'through the back door.'

Director of Precious Life Bernadette Smyth said, “We are greatly encouraged that Mr Edwin Poots has been appointed as new the Health Minister.

Precious Life ran a VOTE FOR LIFE Campaign in the run-up to the election to ensure our unborn children had a strong voice in the next Assembly. We sent letters to all 218 candidates asking them to make an election pledge to protect the right of unborn children and oppose any attempts to legalise abortion in Northern Ireland.

Mr Poots was one of the many candidates who signed our pledge.

Now that the new Assembly is up and running, we will continue lobbying all the new MLAs to resist any attempt to legalise abortion in Northern Ireland.

We have been battling against the abortion guidelines for 10 years now. We have already sent Mr Poots our 'Briefing Paper' outlining the dangers in the Guidelines. They are legally and medically flawed - beyond the level that would allow for correction. They must be withdrawn and re-drafted in full, with input from pro-life medical and legal experts. We will ensure that any new Guidelines acknowledge and reaffirm the unborn child’s right to life and their protection in law.”

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