People in the Republic of Ireland “have a duty to protect” the right to life for unborn babies, according to a commentator who used to support abortion.
Lucinda Creighton is speaking out as the country prepares for the upcoming abortion referendum.
Voters will be asked on Friday whether or not to repeal the Irish constitution’s Eighth Amendment, which pledges to “defend and vindicate” the equal right to life of the unborn and the mother, “as far as practicable”.
‘Misleading benchmark’
Writing in The Times, Creighton says she has come “to understand that support for abortion is not an expression of liberty and modernity.
“It is a misleading benchmark for how progressive a society has become”.
The former TD said some of the negative consequences of abortion are being hidden from the debate, adding that abortion “has a profound impact on mental health”.
‘Duty to protect’
Creighton said an unborn baby is “a human being, unique and irreplaceable, not a thing or an ‘it’”.
“We are being told that we have to choose between women and their babies. We do not.
“We all have a duty to protect our fellow humans. Removing their rights from our constitution would do the opposite”, she concluded.
‘Unborn babies’
Irish obstetrician Eamon McGuinness is also urging voters to say no to abortion.
McGuiness, who is the former chairman of the Institute of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, said: “Doctors are to be asked to take part in the intentional killing of unborn babies. This is not something we should be asked to do.
“I will be voting no.”