David Ford resubmits his Abortion Bill
On Monday, 13th March 2017 Alliance MLA David Ford resubmitted his private member's bill seeking to change the law to allow abortion of unborn babies with life-limiting disabilities.
David Ford, who already had a public consultation on abortion reform in 2015, has claimed, "The surveys and statistics all show the desire is there in Northern Ireland to change the law. We need to help these women and we need to help them now."
In response to this, Bernadette Smyth, the director of Precious Life, the leading pro-life group in Northern Ireland, stated:
“In April 2015, it was revealed that, of the 25,320 responses to David Ford as Justice Minister's consultation on changing the law to allow abortion of babies with life-limiting disabilities, 25,140 of the responses opposed his proposals for the fatal discrimination of disabled unborn babies in Northern Ireland.
“Over 99% of the people who responded to the consultation made clear that they want unborn babies with disabilities to remain protected under our laws. So, contrary to what David Ford believes, there is no desire to change the law in Northern Ireland. David Ford has completely disregarded the will of the people of Northern Ireland by resubmitting his Private Members Bill.
“There is no will for our pro-life laws to be changed in any circumstance.
“What mothers need when their precious baby has been diagnosed with a life-limiting disability is perinatal hospice care. Abortion is not the answer.
"Precious Life are calling on the pro-life majority in Northern Ireland to lobby their elected MLAs to stop this evil Bill from becoming law."