Fine Gael has issued a statement making clear their opposition to abortion legislation.
In response to queries from the Pro Life Campaign (PLC), the party said it is “opposed to the legalisation of abortion.”
The party also said it is “opposed to research conducted on human embryos, and favours alternative stem cell research that does not involve human embryos such as adult stem cell and umbilical cord research.”
The statement came after a countrywide campaign by PLC urging its supporters and all pro-life voters to only support candidates who oppos abortion and destructive embryo stem cell research.
The PLC welcomed the statement, saying it is “a clear commitment to oppose abortion legislation and destructive embryo research.”
The PLC statement added, “It is a significant and very welcome development. For pro-life voters wondering how to vote, the statement clarifies Fine Gael’s position and the stance it will adopt if elected to Government.”
The Fine Gael statement retained the commitment to establish an all-party Oireachtas Committee, with access to medical and legal expertise, to consider the implications to the recent ruling of the European Court of Human Rights and to make recommendations.
However, it added that its representatives “will bring to the proposed all-party committee a clear commitment that women in pregnancy will receive whatever treatments are necessary to safeguard their lives, and that the duty of care to preserve the life of the baby will also be upheld.”
Earlier in the campaign, the Labour party pledged to legislate for abortion along the lines of the X case. The PLC responded to this by distributing hundreds of thousands of leaflets informing voters that Labour supported abortion.
In a statement, responding to Labour’s manifesto commitment, the PLC’s Dr Ruth Cullen said that their position on abortion “actually appears quite restrictive until you examine it closely.”
However, she said that, in effect, their position would lead to “abortion on demand in this country.”
“For example, the Labour Party completely ignores the distinction between necessary medical treatments in pregnancy and abortion, where the baby is intentionally killed. Its policy is almost identical to the grounds on which abortion was introduced in Britain and we know that has led to abortion on demand up to birth.”
“Quite frankly, it is rank hypocrisy for Labour to claim to be a defender of the most marginalised in society while at the same time having a policy that ignores the humanity of the unborn child throughout the entire nine months of pregnancy.”
According to a recent Red C poll, over two thirds of Irish people believe that unborn children should be given legal protection.
The poll, commissioned by the PLC and published last week, showed that 68 per cent of people supported constitutional protection for the unborn child.
The poll showed that just over a quarter of people, 26 per cent, opposed such protection, while five per cent didn’t know nor had an opinion.
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