The man set to become Northern Ireland’s next Health Minister has sparked a furious row after claiming rape victims should not be allowed to abort an unborn child. DUP MLA Jim Wells said women who suffer a sexual assault must not be exempt from the strict laws banning abortion here — and should instead consider handing their baby over for adoption.
The controversial remarks have sparked an angry backlash from victims’ charities and pro-life campaigners.
Alliance MLA Anna Lo claimed Mr Wells was “still living in the dark ages”.
“Women have a choice over their own body and for men like Jim Wells to say that is wrong,” she said.
The South Down MLA, who will take over as Health Minister next year, made the comments in a radio interview on Thursday.
He said the current law — where abortion is only permitted to save a mother’s life or prevent long-term physical and mental health damage — should remain, even in cases where she was the victim of rape.
Aborting an unborn child was, he said, merely “punishing” the “ultimate victim” of the crime.
Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph, Mr Wells said he stood by his comments, and claimed any change in the law may “open the floodgates” and lead to “abortion on demand”.
Figures released this week revealed 43 “viable pregnancies” were terminated last year in Northern Ireland.
In an attempt to reduce that number, GPs will have to provide a detailed explanation to the Health Minister and department for each abortion they sanction.
Speaking on The Nolan Show, Mr Wells said the DUP had concerns about the basis for some abortions.
He said the current law must be upheld, even in cases of rape.
“That is a tragic and difficult situation but should the ultimate victim of that terrible act — which is the unborn child — should he or she also be punished for what has happened by having their life terminated? No,” he said.
“In Northern Ireland there are hundreds of married couples who would love to adopt children, a child, a baby, and who could give support in that situation. A termination of a pregnancy should not be the first option in that situation. The other option is that you kill the child who’s a totally innocent victim in this terrible set of circumstances.”
Mr Wells remained defiant, insisting any change to the law could lead to “abortion on demand”.
“These instances are extremely rare in Northern Ireland and my concern is those who are lobbying on this issue are using it to some extent because they want abortion on demand for everyone, regardless of the circumstances,” he said.
“The stats are very low for pregnancies which arise as a result of rape, so therefore I am very worried about moves to create any change in the legislation which would open the floodgates to full-scale abortion on demand as we have in England, where we’ve had seven million children destroyed as a result.”
Goretti Horgan from Alliance For Choice, which campaigns for women to have legal abortions, said she was angered by Mr Wells’ remarks.
“It should be up to the woman to decide for herself what she wants when faced with a crisis pregnancy,” she told the Belfast Telegraph. “A lot of people — whether pro-choice or anti-choice — will say that a woman pregnant because of rape should not be forced to continue that pregnancy. Should a woman really be forced into nine months of effective punishment for what someone else did to her? Many women who become pregnant through rape say the pregnancy is a constant reminder of the attack. It is there every single day, they just can’t get away from it.”
Anna Lo, who is pro-choice, urged Mr Wells to reconsider his stance.
“I find it incredible. I just think — are we still living in the dark ages where men can dictate to women on all issues?” she said.
Yesterday the DUP appeared to reject his claims by issuing a statement saying it recognised that rape victims “may be included” in abortions carried out in Northern Ireland.
“We would like to see as few abortions carried out as possible but recognise that a small number of abortions are legally carried out in Northern Ireland and victims of rape may be included within this,” it said.
Mr Wells’ comments come just days after a Republican candidate in the US caused a furore when he claimed that women’s bodies had ways to prevent pregnancy in case of “legitimate rape”.
Missouri candidate Todd Akin later admitted he was “medically wrong” in suggesting that pregnancy generally could not happen as a result of rape.
He is under pressure to quit the race for a Senate seat.