Record Crowd at Rally for Life
23.03.2018
The Rally for Life in Dublin on March 10 saw up to 100,000 people take to the streets to reject the Government’s plan for a UK-style abortion regime in Ireland. Placard-waving marchers were 10 to 12 abreast at the front of the march as they arrived at Merrion Square while marchers near the rear of the crowd were still leaving O'Connell Street. The demonstration stretched for well over a kilometre through the city.
Niamh Uí Bhriain of Save the 8th said that the crowds who thronged Dublin city centre showed that the government’s abortion proposal had woken a sleeping giant and that the campaign now expected a surge in volunteers to work towards a No vote in the abortion referendum in May.
“These huge numbers are a rising of the people against the media and political elites and against the powerful international abortion industry who have poured millions into a campaign attacking our pro-life laws. Ireland is at a defining point in our history, and we are challenging the people to reject the abortion industry and to demand a better answer for mothers and babies,” she said. “Abortion has no place in a compassionate and progressive society.”
The rally heard from a range of speakers from diverse backgrounds, including doctors, mothers, people with disabilities, and political figures.
Dr Judy Ceannt, a GP, told the Rally that the government wants to repeal the 8th so that they can request that GPs provide abortion on demand for the first three months of an unborn baby’s life. “They have not even consulted us doctors. The basic law that governs our actions as doctors is first do no harm. We are not meant to intentionally kill or harm any patient, least of all the most helpless, the unborn baby. The government has no right to impose this on us,” Dr Ceannt said.
Another doctor, Maire Neasta Nic Gearailt, showed the crowd with a €100 voucher for Specsavers, which she said would be sent to Senator Catherine Noone, after the Oireachtas Committee chairwoman said she “could not find” any doctors who favoured retaining the 8th amendment.
Also speaking at the Rally was Charlie Fien, a Down syndrome activist who recently gave an impassioned plea to the United Nations in March 2017 where she spoke out against the targeted killing of children diagnosed with Down syndrome before birth.
“Saving the 8th will save the lives of babies with Down’s syndrome. Ireland, is one of the only countries in the world where babies with Down’s syndrome are safe inside their mother’s wombs” Ms. Fien said, to rapturous applause.
The Rally also heard a strong pro-life feminist message, with speaker Destiny Herndon-De La Rosa urging marchers to demand a better answer than abortion for women. “Abortion is the ultimate exploitation of women, and is a symptom of women’s oppression. Ireland should lead the way by saving the 8th,” she said.
About a dozen pro-abortion protesters gathered outside the GPO as the marchers went past. A 21-year-old Dublin woman, who claimed she was a member of “Radical Queer Resist,” said: “I’m not happy with people marching against my human rights.”
Rally for Life. Life Institute. March 10. Sunday Independent. March 11.