Ireland: The Victim of Orwellian Deceit

July 16, 2013

by Joseph Meaney
Crisis Magazine
 

 

Ireland is currently the victim of an astounding deceit, the Orwellian “Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill.” It passed the Irish lower house or Dáil Éireann, and now goes on to their senate, which lacks the power to reject the measure, and on for signature from the, largely honorific, president who is in any case favorable. For the first time in its history direct abortion will be legal in Ireland under certain circumstances.

How did Catholic Ireland, the isle of saints and scholars, come to this pass? Two words suffice: Modernity & Europe. Islands can resist cultural corrosion better than most, but Ireland and Malta join Poland as a small pro-life minority in the European Union. The Old continent generally embraces legal abortion, with the notable exceptions above, and the micro-states of San Marino and the principalities of Andorra, Liechtenstein and Monaco as well as the Vatican City State.
Ireland is particularly targeted because of a remarkable public health achievement, one of the lowest maternal mortality rates in the world—about half the rate of maternal deaths as England and Wales where abortion-on-demand rules. Abortion promoters cannot stand this blatant contradiction to their propaganda that women need abortion as “Reproductive Health Care.” When in 2012 a pregnant Indian woman died in Ireland and her husband charged that she was refused a “life-saving” abortion, the international media pounced on this opportunity. The medical facts, however, revealed that Savita Halappanavar’s infection would not have been cured and her life saved by killing her child. References to the Halappanavar case are nonetheless standard fare in media coverage of Ireland continuing a long tradition of “don’t confuse me with the facts” journalistic reporting on the abortion issue.
The Emerald Isle passing pro-abortion legislation is emblematic of the cultural shift there.

 

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By Joseph Meaney

Joseph Meaney is the Director of International Coordination for Human Life International. His bachelors and masters degrees from the Catholic University of Dallas and the University of Texas Institute of Latin American Studies prepared him for an international career that has included lectures and investigative journalism missions on six continents and over 67 countries. Before becoming Director of HLI's International Division, Joseph helped found and served four years as Vice Director of HLI's Rome Office. He speaks French, Spanish, and Italian fluently.