DIARY NOTICE – NORTHERN IRELAND BOTH LIVES MATTER 100,000 LIVES DEMO: TUESDAY 26 FEBRUARY 2019
Brief details: 10 women each holding a box containing 10,000 names symbolising the 100,000 people who are alive today because of Northern Ireland’s abortion laws will march on Parliament.
Date and time: 12:00PM, Tuesday 26 February 2019
Schedule:
- The march to Westminster will begin at the south side of Westminster bridge and continue past Parliament Square before heading to the Northern Ireland Office;
- Photo opportunity in front of the Northern Ireland Office.
On Tuesday (26 February) 10 women each holding a box containing 10,000 names symbolising the 100,000 people who are alive today because of Northern Ireland’s abortion laws will march on Parliament.
There will then be a photo opportunity outside the Northern Ireland office with the 10 women holding the boxes symboling 100,000 people. The women will be demanding that the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland continues to ensure Westminster respects devolution and does not impose an extreme abortion law on Northern Ireland. They will be joined by a larger group of women who will be holding a large banner and placards which say “100,000 people are alive today because of NI’s abortion laws’ and “Both Lives Matter”.
Marion Woods, co-founder of Both Lives Matter said:
“100,000 people in Northern Ireland are alive today because Northern Ireland did not accept the same abortion law that was introduced into Britain in 1967. These people are our mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, daughters and sons. Abortion pressure groups have no mandate from us the people of Northern Ireland to impose abortion on Northern Ireland from Westminster.
We urge the British Government to respect the people of Northern Ireland and our elected representatives. Two-thirds of women, and 70% of 18-34 year olds, in Northern Ireland, believe that Westminster should not impose abortion laws on Northern Ireland.
If what is proposed by abortion pressure group was to actually happen, it would have dramatic consequences for Northern Ireland. Polling shows the majority voice of the Northern Irish people
ENDS
- For additional quotes and media interviews contact [email protected]
- ComRes interviewed 1,013 Northern Irish adults online between 8th and 15th October 2018. Data
was weighted to be representative of all Northern Irish adults. ComRes is a member of the British Polling Council and abides by its rules. Full data tables are available here: https://www.comresglobal.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/2018-Both-Lives-Matter.pdf - High-resolution photos from the event and previous Both Lives Matter events that can be used for press use are available here: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmox9nDs
- Both Lives Matter is a Northern Ireland based group of individuals and organisations who are pro-life and pro-women. Their website is found here: https://bothlivesmatter.org/
- Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, Karen Bradley stated in the Houses of Parliament (September 5, 2018) that:
- “Abortion is a devolved matter in Northern Ireland and this means it is only right that questions of laws and policy on abortion, including the legality of any medicines, are decided by a devolved government.”
- Deputy chair of the Conservative party James Cleverly has spoken out about abortion and devolution:
- “You can’t claim to respect NI devolution but then demand that it be ignored because an issue is ‘important’,” he said. “The sensitivity about saying ‘the Republic of Ireland have done it so Northern Ireland should do it too’ cannot be overstated either.”
- Ruth Davidson, leader of the Scottish Conservative Party has also warned against imposing abortion laws on Northern Ireland:
- “If I was a politician in Northern Ireland, I would absolutely 100% vote to change the law. But as someone who operates in a devolved administration, I know how angry I would be if the House of Commons legislated on a domestic Scottish issue over the head of Holyrood”.
- In a House of Commons debate (June 5, 2018) SNP MP Deirdre Brock MP said:
- “Likewise, the issue of abortion in Northern Ireland is a devolved matter and is an issue for the people of the Northern Ireland and the people they elect to the Assembly. It is a matter devolved and, frankly, it matters not a jot whether the decisions made at Stormont, when it is sitting, are agreeable to Members sitting here. That is the point of devolution, a point that some Members of this place have been spectacularly slow to appreciate at times. The decisions of devolved Administrations are taken for reasons that people in those devolved nations understand from their point of view, and they are taken using evidence that the people, politicians and policymakers of those devolved nations consider important.”
