by Pat Buckley | Dublin, Ireland | LifeNews.com | 7/25/13 1:58 PM
The Irish Government has passed all stages of the so called “Protection of Life in Pregnancy Bill 2013” which will now be sent to the President Michael D Higgins for signature.
The passing of this pro-abortion legislation is to be deplored and we put the Irish Government on notice that the pro-life people of Ireland will work without ceasing to have this anti-life legislation overturned as soon as possible no matter what it takes, commencing with an immediate legal challenge to its constitutionality.
The Parliamentary debates of both the lower and upper houses of the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) were long and arduous and a small number of heroic deputies on all sides of the two chambers were seen to stand head and shoulders over their party colleagues, in some cases even defying the party whip and voting in accordance with their consciences, despite the consequences.
The passing of the legislation however raises a number of questions, which will have to be carefully pondered by the pro-life community in the continuing war against the unborn.
* WHY is it that the current Irish government will only listen to the pro-abortion agenda
* WHY is the Irish print and broadcasting media so biased against unborn life and persist in championing abortion and pushing it at every opportunity
* WHY does the government ignore and dismiss the pro-life voice and paint it as extremist
*WHY does the Government ignore the vast numbers of Irish men and women who voted with their feet and attended the various pro-life vigils and rallies ranging from 10,000 in December and rising to 25,000 in January, 40,000 in June and finally around 60,000 in July
*WHY does the Government believe they can ignore the majority without facing future consequences.
There are also some questions about how Ireland came to be in this position in the first place. The pro-life community knows for example that it was brought about as a result of sustained pressure from both national and international pro-abortion organisations such as the Irish Family Planning Association which is a branch of International Planned Parenthood (IPPF), the largest abortion provider in the world.
How for example did three women who did not know one another (one being a non-national) get together to take a case against the Irish Government to the European Court Of Human Rights (ECtHR) in order to force this change in Ireland’s laws
Who financed them in taking this case against the Irish Government the ECtHR
How were the grounds for taking the case prepared and by whom.
How was the European Convention on Human Rights subverted in reaching the decision in the A,B and C case and real justice denied in the ECtHR
What other international pro-abortion organizations were behind the outright attack on Ireland’s pro-life laws.
LifeNews Note: Pat Buckley a lobbyist for the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children.
Friday, July 26, 2013
Planned Parenthood Was Behind Push for Ireland Bill Legalizing Abortions
Wednesday, January 2, 2013
Irish Family Planning Association under investigation
This new item has featured on T&A before but necessary to repost.
By Gemma O'Doherty
Saturday October 27 2012
STAFF at some taxpayer-funded pregnancy counselling services are putting women's lives at risk and breaking the law, an undercover probe has revealed.
The investigation was carried out over several months by a team of women, some from the pro-life movement, who secretly recorded counsellors at 11 locations around the country.
Some of the advice they gave about abortion was illegal, according to a leading lawyer, and some was medically dangerous, a top doctor says.
In several instances, women were told to hide their abortions from their doctors, a course of action that could endanger life if post-surgery abortion complications remain undiagnosed.
A small percentage of women suffer perforation of the womb following terminations, which can remain undetected but can cause problems in later pregnancies.
The Irish Independent has viewed and listened to the investigation tapes.
Following a five-hour examination of the material, the HSE has launched an investigation.
A spokesperson said that any potential breaches of the legislation will be pursued.
Gardai at Dublin's Store Street station are also looking into the findings of the probe.
At the Dundalk office of the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA), a client was told she could lie to her doctor about having had an abortion, advice that could put a woman's life at risk, Professor Sam Coulter Smith, the master of Dublin's Rotunda Hospital, has warned.
Termination
He said he was aware of cases where women have died because they did not tell their doctors they'd had a termination.
At two Dublin branches of the IFPA in Tallaght and Cathal Brugha Street, women were also told they could conceal their abortions from doctors.
The same advice was given by a HSE employee at Ballinasloe Crisis Pregnancy Support Service in Galway.
In response, Dr Simon Mills, a barrister and medical doctor, said: "It is definitely reckless and probably negligent advice to tell a woman to conceal from doctors something that may be a vital part of her medical history.
"This is especially the case if she presented unwell in the immediate aftermath of a termination and felt that she shouldn't tell her doctor about it when it could be the key piece of information to deliver prompt and life-saving treatment.
"If somebody turned around and said the reason I didn't tell my doctor was because a counsellor told me it wasn't necessary, civil liability would almost certainly arise and I think it is possible that criminal liability could too."
The revelations come a week after the first private abortion clinic on the island of Ireland opened its doors in Belfast.
The investigation was carried out by a group of women posing as pregnant clients. The research team, made up of 30 people, included teachers, lawyers and doctors. Some of them come from the pro-life movement.
They instigated the probe after receiving information that some pregnancy advice centres may be breaking the law.
The clinics involved are overseen and funded by the HSE's Crisis Pregnancy Programme (CPP).
This state body was set up to cut the number of unplanned pregnancies and the number of Irish women travelling for abortions by making the other two options of parenting and adoption more 'attractive'.
At the Tallaght and Cork branches of the IFPA, women were told how to get an abortion pill, which is illegal here, by smuggling it into the State through Northern Ireland.
The HSE has confirmed that crisis pregnancy counsellors should not provide information on how to get the abortion pill.
Induce
The pills induce an abortion by causing a miscarriage. They should only be taken under medical supervision because they can cause bleeding, severe infection or, in rare instances, death.
A leading constitutional lawyer, Paul Anthony McDermott, has said that telling somebody how to access and take an illegal drug could be seen as "aiding and abetting a crime".
Some of the results of the undercover recording show:
- At Dundalk IFPA, a woman was told: "Now when you go for medical attention they have no way of knowing that you have had an abortion. You need to say that you had a miscarriage. They will know you were pregnant but you need to say that you had a miscarriage."
- A counsellor at Tallaght IFPA told a woman how to import the abortion pill illegally. She said: "If you have an address in the North or you can buy a PO box number, and get them to send it . . . You can. . . then go and collect the tablets in the North and take them down here."
- At the Sexual Health Centre in Cork, another woman was told how to get an abortion pill. Her counsellor said: "I suppose I'm not encouraging you to break the law or get into trouble . . . but it can be done."
She also admitted that giving this sort of advice could get her arrested.
According to the HSE's CPP, information given by counselling services about abortion must be truthful, objective and must not involve the 'promotion or advocacy' of it.
Last year, more than €3.1m of public money was spent on crisis pregnancy services overseen by the HSE.
A spokeswoman for the organisation said the CPP would "agree whatever measures necessary with these agencies to ensure that the highest possible standard in crisis pregnancy counselling is provided within the existing legal framework".
In a statement, the IFPA said that "all of its counsellors set out to work in adherence with the law" and that its services operate "under protocols and procedures which take into account all legislative requirements".
An offer to review the audio and video evidence from the probe was declined by the organisation.
It was furnished with the transcripts of the investigation by the Irish Independent three weeks ago.
Eilis Mulroy, a Galway-based solicitor who was part of the research team and is a member of the pro-life movement, said: "We had heard that questionable practices were going on.
"The 1995 Abortion Information Act is very clear when it comes to the obligations of counsellors and the information they are allowed to give.
"But our investigation found that this legislation is being breached on a wide scale and that Irish women in crisis pregnancies are getting dangerous medical advice.
"This reflects a high level of contempt for their health and well-being, not to mention the law."
Last night, the Irish Medicines Board expressed "grave concern and disappointment" that healthcare professionals would give advice on how to source illegal medicines.
A spokesperson said: "This contradicts our consistent warnings against such practices. We would additionally be concerned in relation to abortifacients in that self-medication is not appropriate for such products."
The most recent statistics show that 4,149 Irish women had terminations in Britain in 2011.
The revelations come as an expert group set up by Health Minister James Reilly prepares to publish a report on whether abortion should be legalised in Ireland under limited circumstances.
- Gemma O'Doherty
Wednesday, November 21, 2012
The Media Cover-Up of IFPA Scandal
Article via the Life Institute.
November 7, 2012
The media cover-up of the IFPA scandal could put women's lives at risk
Last week the Irish Independent, to its credit, carried a major report revealing how the advice being given by the Irish Family Planning Association and other tax-payer funded agencies is putting the lives of Irish women at risk.
The Independent reported that "an undercover probe had revealed that women were told to hide their abortions from their doctors, a course of action that could endanger life if post-surgery abortion complications remain undiagnosed".
According to reporter, Gemma O'Donoghue: "at the Dundalk office of the Irish Family Planning Association (IFPA), a client was told she could lie to her doctor about having had an abortion, advice that could put a woman's life at risk, Professor Sam Coulter Smith, the master of Dublin's Rotunda Hospital, has warned".
Dr Coulter Smith explained that "There are certain recognised complications that can arise with terminations. Perforation of the womb is one of them and it can have a devastating effect on the integrity of the uterine wall in subsequent pregnancies."
"I am aware of cases where women have died because they didn't tell doctors they had had termination which caused their womb to perforate," he continued.
So here we had an taxpayer-funded body, using taxpayer funds to give 'advice' that could have caused a woman to lose her life. This was pretty shocking stuff, but there was more.
The investigation also showed that 'counsellors' at abortion referral agencies were telling women how to obtain the abortion pill illegally. At Tallaght IFPA one woman was told: "If you have an address in the North or you can buy a PO box number, and get them to send it . . . You can. . . then go and collect the tablets in the North and take them down here."
The Independent sais that following a five-hour examination of the material, the HSE launched an investigation, and that Gardai at Dublin's Store Street station are also looking into the evidence.
The rest of the Irish media then roundly ignored these shocking revelations. It seems that putting women's lives at risk - and using taxpayer funding while breaking the law - isn't of any interest to RTÉ, the Irish Times, the Journal etc.
Of course, it's been fairly obvious for a long time that abortion advocates are happy to overlook women's welfare to further the cause of killing unborn babies. But what may really be motivating the media cover-up is the risk of losing abortion campaigners their enormous tax payer funding.
In the past ten years the IFPA has seen their income more than double because of lavish tax payer funding, and they have received an eye-watering €10 million from the Irish government since the Crisis Pregnancy Agency first began pouring cash into the abortion-advocating outfit.
Being so flush with cash allows the IFPA ample time and resources to continue their push for abortion, and to engage U.S. lawyers to bring Ireland to the European Court in an attempt to foist abortion on Ireland.
If the HSE - and Health Minister, James Reilly - were serious about accountability and about protecting women in crisis, they would immediately suspend all funding of the IFPA pending a full investigation of illegal practices at the abortion referral agency.
And surely James Reilly should be asking some searching questions of the former IFPA chief, Tony O’Brien, who he has appointed as head of the Irish health service. Yesterday, the Senate heard calls for an open and transparent investigation into allegations of illegal and dangerous activities in abortion referral agencies. If the Minister was serious about protecting women's health he would establish such an inquiry immediately and suspend funding for the IFPA immediately.
Or will the practice of putting women's lives at risk simply continue? Any media worth its salt would make sure to find answers to those questions. Instead, with some few exceptions, we're seeing that the Irish media seem only too anxious to perpetuate the cover-up.
