Dear Supporter
 
Urgent
 
Pro-life parliamentarians are being urged, by well-intentioned politicians, to ask the Prime Minister to introduce abortion to Northern Ireland in accordance with the provisions set out in section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation, etc) Act 2019.
 
We appreciate that the idea behind these calls is to persuade the Government not to introduce even worse regulations. Yet, to call for the imposition of abortion in line with Section 9 of the Act would be to fall into the pro-abortion lobby’s trap.
 
Comparable moves were made in Parliament by well-intentioned pro-life MPs in the past which resulted in legislation permitting abortion up to birth, in the case of disability and in other circumstances.
 
I’m writing, therefore, to ask you to contact your MP (email or letter), if he or she is pro-life, and urge him or her to resist calls from well-intentioned sources to lobby the Government to produce regulations for Northern Ireland which permit abortion in line with the terms of Section 9.
 
As you will be aware, last July, Parliament voted to impose an extreme abortion regime on Northern Ireland through section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc) Act. This legislation allows the killing of babies in circumstances even more extreme than is currently permitted under the Abortion Act.  By imposing this law Parliament ignored the devolution settlement and disregarded constitutional conventions. In total 99 MPs voted against Section 9 and not one of Northern Ireland’s sitting MPs supported it. The introduction of abortion to the Province has no mandate from the people of Northern Ireland and lacks all legitimacy.
 
It is absolutely necessary that pro-life MPs oppose unequivocally any measure making the provision of abortion lawful in Northern Ireland. It is vital that pro-life politicians refuse to advise the Government on how to legislate in favour of killing  unborn children in “limited” circumstances. Thousands of pro-life citizens in Northern Ireland who support the work of this Society would not be prepared to countenance this.
 
There is a crucial moral difference between, on the one hand, limiting, in an ethical way, the harm of pro-abortion legislation, and, on the other hand, advising legislators on how to go about legalising abortion in certain circumstances. 

I would urge you, therefore, to ask your MP to oppose the implementation of section 9 and to support efforts for its repeal.
 
With very best wishes
 
 
 
John Smeaton
Chief Executive