Chen Guangcheng and his wife Yuan Weijing are a remarkably courageous couple. With their six-year-old daughter they have languished for years as prisoners in their home in Shandong province, China.
This week, Independent TD Clare Daly will introduce a Private Members Bill in the Dáil which would legalise abortion in Ireland. The bill has no chance of becoming law, but will provide an opportunity for TDs to speak out on the issue of abortion. This will lay the groundwork for the debate that will unfold after the government's 'expert group' on abortion reports in July.
The government has approved the establishment of an “expert group” to advise it on how to respond to the ECHR decision in ABC v. Ireland. There is a very real danger that the Labour Party, aided by pro-abortion elements within Fine Gael will hijack this process and stack the group with pro-abortion “experts”, whose recommendations will, predictably, push Ireland towards legalised abortion.
At a recent meeting of the UN Human Rights Council, six national delegations urged Ireland to legalise abortion. Norway, the UK, Denmark, Slovenia, Spain, and the Netherlands all urged Ireland to make changes to its abortion laws. The Irish government has rejected all six demands, but the episode is a classic example of how pro-abortion governments attempt to bully (usually small or impoverished) pro-life nations into changing their laws. It also illustrates the efforts being made to reinterpret international conventions on human rights to create a "right" to abortion.
Block the Internet Abortionists
Irish women facing crisis pregnancies continue to be targeted by a website which is illegally sending abortion drugs into Ireland. In 2009, 1216 packages of these deadly drugs were seized by Irish Customs officers. No one knows how many more went undetected.