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.