12th May 2023
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In this Issue...

READ: Author of three-year review report absent from the media as government passes the buck (#3)

REA (#BREAKING) D: (#m4l) Thousands attend March for Life against the extreme three-year review report (#1)

WATCH: Senator Sharon Keogan's contribution to the Seanad on the issue of so called 'Safe Access Zones' (#vid 1)

WATCH: Senator Rónán Mullen's contribution to the Seanad on the biased and flawed abortion review report and calling for political accountability (#cid)

READ: State legislature in Kansas overrides governor’s veto of pro-life bills (#2)

REA (#BREAKING) D: (#m4l) Thousands attend March for Life against the extreme three-year review report (#1)

REGISTER: PLC Communications Workshop on Communicating the Key Messages of the 3 Year Review, Wednesday the 17th May

REGISTER: Join Team LoveBoth for the VHI Women's Mini-Marathon 2023 (#mara)

READ: Do you have pro-life material which could be historically relevant? (#history)
Author of three-year review report absent from the media as government passes the buck (http://)

The widely covered release of the report from the three-year review has begged the question, where has Marie O’Shea been during all this? The report has been cited by various pro-abortion campaigners and politicians in the media, but its author has been conspicuously absent from making any public comment.

This has created a sort of smokescreen for the government. The author is unavailable to answer serious criticisms of her work’s research basis, whilst the government can continue to pass the buck of responsibility to this supposedly “independent” report. The Pro Life Campaign has already drawn attention to serious flaws in the report, which have not been adequately explained or owned up to.

Despite flagrant mistakes such as her underrating of the abortion rate by 40%, the media continues to cite the abortion review report as an “independent” document underpinned by sound research. In fact, it has drawn extensively on research provided by pro-abortion groups whilst it has even ignored examining national statistics available from the HSE. This has led to a serious imbalance in its findings, which undermine the report’s extremely reckless proposals.

Some senior government members have already expressed wariness about the report’s recommendations to, amongst other things, abolish the three-day waiting period. However, there must be a further recognition that the report’s recommendations are by no means objective and are in fact based on flawed and biased sources. It would never be accepted as legitimate, for example, if a government-backed report over-relied upon evidence from pro-life sources whilst ignoring official HSE statistics.

We know from the beginning that the three-year review process was all going in one direction by the fact Stephen Donnelly only met with pro-abortion groups. There has still been no explanation for why he promised in December 2021 to hold an open and public tender for the position of the review’s chairperson, but subsequently appointed a largely unknown junior counsel without going through the public tendering process.

A deeper recognition must emerge in the coming weeks in the media and politics of the fundamental flaws associated with the report and review.
Thousands attend March for Life against the extreme three-year review report (http://)

On Monday, 1^st May, thousands turned out to the annual March for Life from St Stephen’s Green to Molesworth Street, directly in front of Leinster House. The successful event heard testimonies from Dr Kirsten Fuller, Deputy Peadar Tóibín TD, Amrita Kaur, and others. Most importantly, thousands of people took to the streets of the capital to express their strong opposition to the extreme proposals contained in the biased three-year review report.

Attendees heard the excellent testimony of the importance of freedom of conscience from Dr Kirsten Fuller, a GP based in Clonmel. From Deputy Peadar Tóibín, they heard of the work being done by pro-life politicians in the Dáil, and the progress being made. Amrita Kaur told her powerful story of how she immediately regretted taking the first abortion pill, and how thankful she is that she managed to make contact with doctors who gave her an abortion reversal pill in time to save her baby's life.

A recurrent theme of the March for Life was challenging the deeply flawed research and radical proposals contained in the report from the three-year review. From the beginning, the review was a one-sided process which listened only to the whims of pro-abortion campaigners whilst excluding the perspective of pro-life organisations and parliamentarians. Due to this flagrant disregard of the very basic principles of fairness, pro-life citizens cannot accept this review as “independent” or “objective”.

The importance of pro-life votes at the next election was highlighted by several speakers. Pro-life citizens need to make their voices heard and no longer allow politicians to treat them with contempt. Pro-life votes cannot be taken for granted anymore; they must be hard-won and we expect our elected representatives to proactively push for positive pro-life measures in the Dáil – not simply to restate how they voted in 2018.

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Relive the awesome energy of the March for Life in Dublin on May 1st, 2023 with these highlights from the day!

Watch Senator Sharon Keogan's contribution to the Seanad on the issue of so called 'Safe Access Zones' (http://)
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Well done to Senator Sharon Keogan for raising the fact that the Oireachtas Health Committee in their report published this week on the issue of so called 'Safe Access Zones' (which would prohibit people from gathering peacefully outside locations where abortions are happening) failed to address the 'elephant in the room' ie the fact that such legislation would most likely be unconstitutional.

Watch then full piece here ([link removed])
Watch Senator Rónán Mullen's contribution to the Seanad on the biased and flawed abortion review report and calling for political accountability (http://)
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Well done to Senator Rónán Mullen for drawing attention to the biased and flawed abortion review report in the Seanad and calling for political accountability.

Watch the full piece here ([link removed])
State legislature in Kansas overrides governor’s veto of pro-life bills (http://)

Laura Kelly, Democratic Governor of the midwestern US state of Kansas, recently vetoed several pro-life bills passed by the Kansas legislature. However, the legislature voted to override her veto on these measures, allowing the three key bills to become law. They include a measure to mandate the provision of care to babies who survive an abortion, to prohibit abortionists from buying liability insurance from a state fund, and to require that abortionists provide women with information on abortion pill reversal medication.

Several of these issues have a strong resonance in an Irish context. Babies who have been born alive having survived an abortion must be provided with immediate care to try with every effort to save the life of the baby or at least provide palliative care in cases where survival is impossible. Moreover, the recent March for Life (1^st May) heard the testimony of Amrita Kaur, who took the abortion reversal pill after regretting taking the first abortion pill. This allowed Amrita’s baby to be born.

This presents a victory for the pro-life movement in the United States in the complex political front opened up in the aftermath of the overturning of Roe v Wade last year. In August 2022, Kansas unfortunately voted against a pro-life referendum; however, this recent measure shows that pro-lifers in the state are still committed to strengthening the rights of the unborn child. Jeanne Gawdun of Kansas for Life stated that state lawmakers had “stood together for compassion and basic human decency.”

(Credit: LiveAction ([link removed]) )
PLC Communications Workshop on Communicating the Key Messages of the 3 Year Review, Wednesday the 17th May (http://)
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Register Now ([link removed])
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
Do you have pro-life material which could be historically relevant? (http://)
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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