Pro-Life Activists in Ireland Vow to Continue After Devastating Vote to Repeal the Eighth Amendment
In an overwhelming majority, the Irish people have voted to repeal the Eighth Amendment to their Constitution, which recognizes the right to life of unborn children.
This is a tragic day for pro-life activists around the world, who had looked to Ireland as an example of how a modern, Western nation can bravely uphold the sacred value of life in the womb.
However, in a striking display of how much culture has changed since the Eighth Amendment was ratified in 1983, pro-abortion advocates have been successful at convincing millions of Irish women that their lives are more precious than that of their unborn children.
Despite having been dealt a serious blow, though, pro-life activists in Ireland are already vowing to fight harder than ever.
“The unborn child no longer has a right to life recognized by the Irish state,” said pro-life spokesman John McGuirk, according to Western Journal.
“Shortly, legislation will be introduced that will allow babies to be killed in our country. We will oppose that legislation,” McGuirk said. “If and when abortion clinics are opened in Ireland … we will oppose that as well,” he said.
“Every time an unborn child has his or her life ended in Ireland, we will oppose that, and make our voices known,” he added.
He later poignantly predicted many women may find out the hard way the true damage of “choice.”
“I fear that over the coming years, more and more women and their families will sadly learn that it was never the journey that was lonely, but the decision, and that it was not the country that is cruel, but the decision,” he wrote in a comment on his personal Facebook page.
He concluded with encouragement for his fellow defenders of life.
“Thank you all, so much, for your work and your friendship. Today will be a hard and difficult day, but hold your heads high. It is never wrong to speak up for what you believe in. It is wrong to stay silent, and especially wrong to stay silent when the crowd is totally against you. I will never stay silent. I hope the rest of you will join me,” he wrote. “If you voted no, be proud, and defiant. Now is the time when your voice is needed more than ever.”
