Buffer Zones and Tax Funded Abortions in Ireland

When an election or a referendum produces a margin of victory of two to one, as in formerly Catholic Ireland on May 25th, the prevailing side will believe, not unjustifiably, that the political winds are now at their back, and will seek to make the most of their new found opportunity. That is what is happening in Ireland.

Simon Harris, the Irish Minister of Health, has announced that enabling legislation to legalize abortion in Ireland, which could be passed as early as this fall, will now include a provision for “exclusion zones” to limit pro-life prayer, protest and counseling near the killing centers. One opinion poll places public support for such a measure at 72%.

Harris is also calling for taxpayer supported public subsidies for abortion, saying there can be “no barrier to accessing services on the basis of affordability.” Harris even wants the taxpayers to reimburse Irish women who travel to England to kill their pre-born children.

The wishful thinking among some pro-lifers that there would be a measure of mitigation and moderation, or even pull-back, in the enabling legislation is, clearly, illusory. The proponents of mass murder will now move rapidly to employ the instruments of coercion to enforce their revolution.

Irish pro-lifers should be prepared for pressure on Catholic hospitals to perform abortions, compelled participation in abortions, under threat of termination, for health care professionals, and, perhaps, even an amendment to the 1989 Prohibition to Incitement of Hatred Act, criminalizing as hate speech the characterization of abortion as killing.

Bunworth Banshee, “Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland”, by Thomas Crofton Croker, 1825