14th April 2023
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In this Issue...

READ: (#mfl1) HSE characterises organisations offering advice and support but not abortion as ‘disingenuous’ (#mfl1)

READ: (#IT4) Texas court ruling on pill described as a ‘victory’ for the pro-life cause (#IT4)

READ: Read our spokesperson's Eilís Mulroy opinion piece in the The Irish Times outlining the importance of the three day period for reflection before a woman undergoes an abortion (#irishtimes)

READ: (#IT) Irish Times journalist rebukes report of a colleague (#IT)

READ: As President Bidens visit comes to an end, read our piece published in LifeNews earlier this week about the Presidents record on the right to life issue (#biden)

REGISTER NOW: (#Workshop) Register for our Upcoming PLC Communications Workshop: Communicating the Pro Life Message. Takes place Wednesday, 19th April, 8pm-9pm (#Workshop)

SAVE THE DATE: Join us and March For Life Ireland in Dublin on May 1st 2023 (#std mfl)

SIGN UP: Join Team LoveBoth for the VHI Women's Mini-Marathon 2023 (#LB)

ARCHIVES: Do you have pro-life material which could be historically relevant? (#history)
HSE characterises organisations offering advice and support but not abortion as ‘disingenuous’ (http://)
In reply to a parliamentary question asked by Deputy Michael Collins, the HSE wrote on 4 April that a sign of a ‘disingenuous organisation’ is one which offers ‘advice and supports that do not include information on abortion services.’ This explicitly rules a pro-life pregnancy counselling service, which is open about its pro-life ethos, to be ‘disingenuous’ simply because it does not offer abortion.

We already know that the government has placed a bid management strategy to ensure the HSE MyOptions hotline outranks any potential pro-life websites on search engine results. A 2022 study demonstrated how HSE MyOptions counsellors regularly provide desperate or unsure women in unplanned pregnancies with leading advice to make appointments for an abortion. It is highly inappropriate to suggest there is no role for life-affirming counselling services, particularly in light of the gross deficiencies evident in MyOptions.

Responding to the parliamentary reply, Deputy Collins said: “I was disappointed to learn the HSE’s definition of a ‘disingenuous’ pregnancy organisation would include any that do not offer information on abortion. An openly pro-life counselling service should not be smeared in this way simply because it adheres to a life-affirming ethos which rejects the claim that abortion is healthcare.

“Pro-life counsellors across this country know that abortion takes a human life, and for this reason they are motivated to provide women in unplanned pregnancies with positive supports and alternatives to abortion. As is evident from the startlingly high abortion rate of 8,500 last year, the government is failing to provide women in unplanned pregnancies with much needed supports and other services.”
Texas court ruling on pill described as a ‘victory’ for the pro-life cause (http://)

In the wake of last year’s decision of the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v Wade, many American states have now begun to roll back on the US’ previous extreme abortion policy. On 7 April, a Texas court ruled in favour of removing federal approval for mifepristone, one of the pills used to facilitate an abortion. Mifepristone is used in combination with misoprostol to cause an abortion.

Judge Kacsmaryk acknowledged how for over twenty years the US Food and Drug Agency (FDA) had ‘stonewalled judicial review – until now.’ The judgement has been widely welcomed by pro-life groups across the United States. It clearly demonstrates that abortion pills are not a form of legitimate ‘healthcare’ but have the effect of ending an unborn human life. Moreover, concerns and risks associated with mifepristone on the physical health of the woman can now be more openly addressed and highlighted.

The Biden Administration has spoken strongly against the ruling and has announced it will fight it. Even the mainstream media has acknowledged this is a ‘victory’ for the pro-life movement and will have an impact on other neighbouring states. As President Biden is now in Ireland as part of an official visit to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, it is worth Irish pro-life citizens remembering his disastrous record on this important issue in the United States and internationally.
Read our spokesperson's Eilís Mulroy opinion piece in the The Irish Times outlining the importance of the three day period for reflection before a woman undergoes an abortion (http://)
"There are thousands of children alive in Ireland today thanks to the three-day waiting period. According to the Health Service Executive, a total of 3,951 women did not return for a second consultation after the three-day reflection period elapsed. Not all of these cases will have been because women changed their minds, but clearly it can be inferred that thousands of these women decided to proceed with their pregnancies."

Please read and share the piece here ([link removed])
Irish Times journalist rebukes report of a colleague (http://)

The claims published in an Irish Times article by Jennifer Bray which interviewed abortion review researcher Deidre Duffy have now been admonished in an article by fellow Irish Times journalist Kitty Holland. Duffy claimed the abortion system was on the verge of ‘collapse’, having been appointed by Minister Stephen Donnelly to produce research on women who’ve had abortions as part of the review. Interestingly, her research seems to have been dropped from the final report, which may have prompted her to make this unauthorised statement to the media. Last week, Minister Donnelly strongly rejected Deirdre Duffy’s claim, fact-checking his own ‘expert’ on live radio, by referencing the ruthless impact of the abortion law which saw 8,500 abortions last year.

On Easter Sunday, the Irish Times’ Social Affairs correspondent, Kitty Holland, published an article which carried quotes from doctors claiming that Deirdre Duffy’s claim was ‘over the top’ and ‘unhelpful’. It was a remarkable development for one journalist to publish a counter-article rebuking the work of a colleague in the same newspaper. It certainly has not helped the reputation of the Irish Times as the “paper of record”.

The contents of Kitty Holland’s article indicated that abortion has become increasingly entrenched within the Irish medical sector, with Dr Mary Favier claiming that nurses and midwives who previously had ‘strong feelings’ against abortion were no longer vocally opposed to providing abortions or were now keeping quiet. Dr Favier credited ‘value-clarification sessions’ as producing this effect, a distinctly Orwellian sounding process.

The drastic disparity between two separate Irish Times reports must have raised a few eyebrows in the newsroom, with an apparent unedifying rivalry playing out between two of its journalists. In fairness to the Irish Times, it recently (12 April) printed an opinion piece from Eilís Mulroy advocating the retention of the three-day waiting period (alongside an opposing piece from the other perspective).

With the abortion review expected to be published soon, the inherently contradictory assessments of ‘expert’ researchers like Duffy and pro-abortion doctors on the state of the abortion regime in Ireland clearly demonstrates the extent to which ideology is infecting this supposedly ‘independent’ review.

Minister Donnelly also appointed other researchers with a history of activism, such as Catherine Conlon, whose work has been published as the “UnPac” study (Unplanned Pregnancy and Abortion Care). This study has deep flaws, with self-selective interviews impacting the outcome and skewing its findings in a direction which, unsurprisingly, aligns with the wish-list of pro-abortion activists.
As President Bidens visit comes to an end, read our piece published in LifeNews earlier this week about the Presidents record on the right to life issue (http://)
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While it's important to remember why President Joe Biden is in Ireland this week - to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement, which brought about the end of the Troubles in Northern Ireland in 1998 - we are grateful to LifeNews.com for publishing this piece from our spokesperson Eilís Mulroy on President Biden's deeply alarming stance on the right to life of unborn human beings.

Please read and share the piece here ([link removed])
Register for our Upcoming PLC Communications Workshop: Communicating the Pro Life Message. Takes place Wednesday, 19th April, 8pm-9pm (http://)
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Our next PLC Network Communications Workshop is fast approaching. The topic of this workshop is Communicating the Pro Life Message by Presenter and TV Broadcaster Wendy Grace.

This workshop takes place Wednesday evening, the 19th April from 8pm-9pm online via Zoom.
Register Now! ([link removed])
SAVE THE DATE: Join us and March For Life Ireland in Dublin on May 1st 2023 (http://)
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Join us and March For Life Ireland in Dublin on May 1, 2023 as we march in response to the report of the Three Year Review of the abortion law.

Check out our new video here ([link removed])

For more details on the March route and speakers see www.marchforlife.ie
Join Team LoveBoth for the VHI Women's Mini-Marathon 2023 (http://)
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By taking part in the Mini Marathon and fundraising you will be supporting the work of the LoveBoth Project and helping pregnant women, new mothers in need, and their babies.

The VHI Women’s Mini Marathon is taking place in Dublin on Sunday June 4th. You can run, jog or walk the event as part of TEAM LOVEBOTH.

REGISTER and receive your sponsorship pack TODAY or sponsor the team at www.loveboth.ie/vhiwmm ([link removed])
Do you have pro-life material which could be historically relevant? ()
We are putting out a call for anyone in possession of any documents, photographs, correspondence, etc. relevant to the Irish pro-life movement throughout the decades. We are particularly keen to receive anything in your possession related to periods such as the 1983 referendum. A comprehensive history of the pro-life movement is yet to be written, but the historians of the future will need primary sources. We are asking for people to get in touch with the Pro Life Campaign (mailto:[email protected]) if they possess such material (no matter how old or dusty!) to ensure it is preserved now and not lost to the ages.
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Vital Signs is the e-newsletter of the Pro Life Campaign. We hope you and your families are keeping well in these unusual times. This email is to update you on what we have been working on recently, including news stories, project updates, and details of upcoming events. If you want to get in touch with us please do so by emailing [email protected]

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