People from all walks of life joined the silent march on September 6 at Stormont, the seat of the Northern Irish assembly, to protest the liberalization of abortion in the country.
Christian leaders joined 20,000 pro-life campaigners to denounce the proposed changes in Northern Ireland’s strict abortion laws. Peter Lynas, director of the Northern Irelands’ Evangelical Alliance, called the bill a “travesty,” reports Premier.
The unborn children, they have no voice, they cannot speak so they were not considered in this legislation. —Sarah Crutchley, spokesperson for NI Voiceless
“[The proposed law] is an absolute travesty and it was forced upon us without proper consultation or proper regulations to put it in place. It’s just bad law,” he said.
Abortions in Northern Ireland are allowed only under certain circumstances, such as if the mother’s life is endangered. However, in July, Westminster members of Parliament (MPs) voted to legalize abortion of a fetus for up to 28 weeks, or nearly 7 months into a pregnancy.
Anti-abortion rallyists argued that the bill doesn’t reflect the views and opinions of the public. “100,000 people are alive in Northern Ireland because we don’t have that law, we don’t want that to change. We want to be a beacon of hope and a beacon of light instead,” said Lynas.
Sarah Crutchley, spokesperson for NI Voiceless, said, “We organized this event which was open to people of all religions, all political persuasions and all cultural backgrounds so we could come together and unite on this issue, and stand in silent protest.”
The protesters marched to Stormont, bowed their heads at the gate of the building, and held lighted candles for six minutes to represent the six counties in Northern Ireland, reports The Independent.
The people who joined the silent protest called on the government to stop the proposed abortion law. Crutchley said the group believed that the public was not consulted regarding the changes in legislation. “The unborn children, they have no voice, they cannot speak so they were not considered in this legislation,” she added.
