By Judie Brown
Ireland’s Life Institute is leading the charge to “Save the 8th”—a phrase that refers to the attempt to save the eighth amendment to the Irish Constitution, which guarantees the right to life of both the mother and the child.
The head of this organization is Niamh Ui Bhriain—a shining example of the fighting spirit of the Irish. I know this firsthand, having been in Ireland and stood side by side with her and her collaborators working with Youth Defence back in the 1990s.
The history of Amendment 8 goes back to 1983 when it became part of Irish law. The amendment states: “The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right.”
However, in 2012, a 31-year-old pregnant woman named Savita Halappanavar died of complications that some alleged were due to physicians denying her an abortion. In response, the Irish government passed “The General Scheme of the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013.” At the time, leaders of Youth Defence claimed that the media had rushed to judgment about Halappanavar’s cause of death in order to advance the pro-abortion agenda. Clearly they were right, as it was later determined that Halappanavar did not die because she was refused an abortion but rather because of “three factors: septic shock, E.coli . . . causing bloodstream infection, and [a] miscarriage at 17 weeks’ gestation with severe chorioamnionitis.”
Fast forward to 2018. Today the pro-life movement in Ireland is fighting to protect the amendment against the onslaught of pro-abort propaganda, much of which is orchestrated by American culture-of-death experts. But as newspapers report, those who want to decimate Amendment 8 had better get their acts together because the pro-life side is winning. At this critical time, with only two weeks left to protect Amendment 8 or lose it to the pro-aborts when the votes are cast, it is clear to us that if anyone can lead pro-life Ireland to victory and drive back the death march advocated by so many (including Bono and his Irish band U2) it’s Naimh and her pro-life comrades, including Good Counsel Network Ireland, which has been running effective pro-life ads on Facebook exposing the horrors of abortion.
Good Counsel’s ads have received a lot of attention, especially among those who do not want anyone to learn the truth. One Irish news outlet has even attempted to undermine Good Counsel’s work claiming that the facts are false. This is a clear sign of desperation among abortion advocates.
So how do Americans help Ireland save babies right now?
Well, of course our first recourse is to pray for the intercession of Our Lady of Knock, whose shrine in Ireland is very popular among the Irish worldwide. Then, visit the Life Institute website and sign up for its updates.
The Save the 8th campaign in Ireland is a reminder that not only do Americans have to continually fight for life right here at home, but we must be vigilant about the actions of pro-aborts throughout the world. Abortion advocates never sleep, so we must be ever watchful.
The struggle continues worldwide! We work for the Lord, we work together, and we never forget that Satan never sleeps! Let us pray that Irish pro-lifers succeed in saving the Eighth!
