The Irish Referendum
What is the referendum in Ireland about? Well, it is about light v
darkness. How did it come to this? What course did it take? I will try to answer.
In
1983 Ireland had a very divisive - I mean very, very divisive - referendum and
referendum campaign leading up to the referendum. I remember it well as I
campaigned on the pro- life side, with a truck load of pro-aborts hurling abuse
at us when they came across us. The two main pro-life groups at the time were
the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (S.P.U.C.) (which I
campaigned with) and the Pro Life Amendment Campaign(P.L.A.C.). There were many
liberals who wanted to introduce abortion to feel ‘with it’ among the nations
that had introduced abortion. Thankfully Ireland was a more Catholic country
then than it is now, and there was a sizeable amount of politicians who were
against abortion. There was at that time scant protection for the unborn in the
law, only an English law dating back to 1861 which was somewhat vague. So it
was decided to put it to the people and to hold a referendum. As I said, it was a very acrimonious debate.
And no surprise, with the media constantly against us slinging mud at every
turn.
Despite
this the people through the grace of God decided that they did not want
abortion and said a big NO with
two thirds of the people voting against abortion. Thank God. The people had
spoken. The constitution was amended and article 40.3.3 was inserted into the
constitution, that ‘the state acknowledges the equal right to life of the
unborn with due regard to the right to life of the mother’. I’m quoting this
from memory. To put it basically the unborn child was seen as a person with
equal rights. The only time when a pregnancy could be terminated was if the
mother ‘s life was in danger, as this was not the direct intentional killing of
the unborn but giving the mother the necessary life saving treatment that she
needed where the unfortunate side effect of this is the death of the baby. So
this became law and it could not be removed by politicians (praise God) as the
constitution can only be changed by the people in a referendum. So basically
the whole thing backfired on the pseudo liberals. They could not change it now.
From the pro-life point of view Ireland was the jewel in the crown with its
prominent protection of unborn children. And a lot of people didn’t like this.
This was the 8th
amendment to the constitution. And is known as the 8th amendment or
in current debates is commonly referred to as the 8th.
It was going to be hard for the pro-aborts to change this law. They didn’t
go away. They constantly criticised and challenged this law (via the media) and
sought for every opportunity to undermine it. Many pseudo liberal politicians,
media and medical practitioners and others sought for loopholes. Some opportunities came in 1999 and in 2003
when the people were again asked to vote on certain issues, such as: should
women have the right to information about abortion abroad and have the right to
travel to the UK to have an abortion, to which the people voted yes. (Sadly the
commitment to life was beginning to wane somewhat as Ireland was being
de-Catholicised most notably through sex abuse scandals and being constantly
exploited by the media). Though the people still voted no to abortion in
Ireland, thank God. Then there arose cases known as the x case and the c case
where there was rape of minors. Here is a particular point of case which the
media exploited non stop.
Here
entered the European courts. They did
their dirty work and told Ireland they had to change their pro-life laws,
though they had no right to do so, to interfere in the laws of an individual
nation. The politicians only too readily wanted to respond willingly to their
bloodthirsty desires; only one small problem: article 40.3.3 of the Irish
constitution stood between them and cruelly executing young Irish children.
From this point onwards steam was building, with Ireland being now a member of
the EU and them giving us our money (I say 'our' money as it’s not their money.
Where do they get their money? Only from the people of the individual nations).
Their viceroys, Irish politicians, are getting somewhat hot under the collar,
when they’re getting rapped across the knuckles and being asked why they are
not introducing abortion. This was to become more pronounced when Ireland
needed a bail-out and Ireland had to receive bail-outs from ECB and IMF. From
this point onward the EU pressure was really on and Ireland was at their
bidding. Hence Irish politicians introduced in 2013 the so called ‘protection
of life during pregnancy act’, a point in case of evil being called good (I
won’t go in to the ins and outs of all these different scenarios and
legislations) where abortion was introduced if the woman claimed she was
suicidal. From here there was the referendum on ‘gay marriage’; sadly this was
passed by the people in a referendum with unrelenting support by the media.
From here
it was a free for all. They were emboldened. They were going to go all out to
get their debauched way. Next on their list was the constant thorn in their
flesh: the jewel in the pro-life crown. That which is standing between their
bloodthirsty desires and the cruel slaughter of the most vulnerable innocents.
That which rouses their greatest ire. That which is preventing them from fully
rejoicing in depravity (no matter how they dress it up otherwise, like
compassion), article 40.3.3 of the Irish constitution. They have set their
sights on it for a long time from within Ireland and around the world.
Billionaires such as George Soros and Chuck Feeney and many others have been
funding its destruction for a long time. It is the holy grail (or unholy
grail). With subterfuge, spurious arguments, downright lies and arrogance they
have got around to putting it to the people once again. Even that which has happened
i.e. the political process, in the last sixteen months is surreal. All the
events that led to the setting up of what is known as the citizens assembly
(C.A.). The politicians, afraid to make the decision to have the referendum,
off loaded it to the C.A. which was loaded. Loaded in many ways. Loaded with
pro-aborts . Overseen by pro-aborts. Pro-aborts brought in to address it. The
outcome, surprise surprise; they advocated abortion on demand up to 22 weeks.
The government rubber-stamped this decision save only that they would reduce it
to 12 weeks (knowing that 22 weeks was too radical. For now). It saved them the
messy business of these controversial decisions. I’m just dealing with this
whole process very fleetingly. It would cover a book in itself. The whole thing
was a travesty. A farce from beginning to end.
The
plot thickened about three weeks ago The supreme court heard a case in
exceptional circumstances. The case was rushed through. It was a case appealed
by the state. A case heard by the high court which stated that the unborn child
had other rights apart from the right to life. It was taken by a Nigerian man
who was to be deported. He claimed that he should not be deported because he
was the father of an unborn child and the child had a right to a father. The
government disagreed (most likely because it would have scuppered the chances
of the government to have a referendum to have their way to introduce abortion.
The government and all political parties are campaigning for abortion, except
one very small party) and challenged the high court decision. Seven judges of
the supreme court ‘reflected’ on the issue and said no, the unborn child does
not have any rights except the right to life as stated in article 40.3.3. This contradicted many judgements handed down
by the courts over the decades. This appeal was rushed through in a matter of
months where it normally takes years for an appeal to come before the high
court. The head judge of the supreme court who was one of the seven is a known
public advocate of abortion.
So
the government is doing everything it can to have the referendum on May 25th,
before all the students go off for the summer break and before the Pope comes
to Ireland (there is the danger that he could influence people towards being
pro-life). The Church has been very quiet. It is being pushed through the Dail
stages at break neck speed. Now the campaigning is on. (The latest Irish times
opinion poll puts the repeal, to give them a polite title, side at 56% while
the retain the 8th gets 26% if you believe the Irish Times). It is up to the people of Ireland to decide,
to see through all the lies. It is an uphill battle. The last comparable poll
put the repeal side at 60% and retain at 20%. So the gap is closing due to much
hard work by pro-life people and the grace of God.
These are just some bullet points on the situation regarding
the referendum at the moment. If anyone reading this has a vote in Ireland,
please strongly consider coming home and casting your vote for life. Or if you
know anyone who has a vote please encourage them to come home and vote for
life. Pray that Ireland once more witnesses to the dignity of life in all its
stages from conception, that Ireland could be a beacon of light to all the
pro-life people and unborn around the world. The stakes are so high it cannot
be overestimated.
I remain
optimistic. Most of all I trust in God from whom all help comes. If God is for
us, who can be against us? The battle is mine, says the Lord.
By Prayer Crusader St Rita, Dublin
