Irish Bishops ‘Dismayed’ by Abortion Tally

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DUBLIN (ChurchMilitant.com) - According to a new report, there were 6,666 abortions in previously-Catholic Ireland following the decriminalization and legalization of abortion in January 2019.

Irish bishops reacted, saying, "The report, for those who will look beyond the statistics, represents a fresh call to conversion for individuals, for the political establishment and for society."

They then proposed: "It is an important expression of our pro-life commitment that Catholics would commit to offering practical and emotional support to women who experience difficulty because of pregnancy."

A report issued on June 30 by Ireland's Department of Health revealed most abortion procedures — 6,542 — were undergone as a matter of convenience, with 100 due to "condition likely to lead to death of fetus" and 24 done due to "risk to life or health perceived" or an "emergency." Most abortions were carried out in Dublin — Ireland's most populous metropolitan center.

In 1983 lawmakers added the Eighth Amendment to Ireland's Constitution, declaring, "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."

But after extensive lobbying by abortion activists, Irish voters decided in May 2018 to rescind the amendment, legalizing abortion starting on Jan. 1, 2019. The June 30 report indicates more abortions occurring the first month than the others.

George Soros' Influence

In 2016 an Irish newspaper reported billionaire atheist George Soros was funding the effort to overturn the Eighth Amendment, with Soros' Open Society Foundation funding Amnesty International Ireland, the Abortion Rights Campaign and the Irish Family Planning Association.

The organizations admitted they were getting money from Soros with the purpose of using once-Catholic Ireland to weaken strong pro-life laws in other Catholic countries, "potentially setting off a chain reaction in other strongly Catholic countries in Europe."

Although Ireland's Electoral Act prohibits foreign political donations over $125, Amnesty International Ireland admitted to illegally receiving over $160,000 from Soros. Executive director Colm O'Gorman refused to give the money back, calling the law "deeply flawed."

A leaked memo from Soros' organization maintained he wanted his Open Societies Foundations "to work collectively on a campaign to repeal Ireland's constitutional amendment granting equal rights to an implanted embryo as the pregnant woman," adding: "With one of the most restrictive abortion laws in the world, a win there could impact other strongly Catholic countries in Europe, such as Poland, and provide much-needed proof that change is possible, even in highly conservative places."

Considered a premier example of a Catholic country, Ireland's people have been divesting themselves of their Catholic faith. In 2016, 78% of the population identified as Catholic. But according to a 2012 poll, most Irish Catholics do not attend Mass or believe key Catholic doctrines — with 62% not believing in the Real Presence in the Holy Eucharist.

Bishops Called Out

The bishops have been called out by Catholic faithful as being complicit in the decline of the faith in Ireland, especially regarding the transmission of the Faith in schools.

After abortion was legalized, only on bishop spoke out — Sligo bishop Kevin Doran, who said "If you voted yes knowing and intending that abortion would be the outcome, then you should consider coming to confession."

Over a 50-year span, Irish society continued its slide into moral degeneracy. Starting in 1972, Article 44 was struck from the Irish Constitution recognizing "the Holy, Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church as the guardian of the Faith professed by the great majority of citizens."

That was followed by the legalization of contraception, the abolition of laws prohibiting sodomy, the establishment of so-called hate-speech laws regarding sexual orientation, and government-level promotion of transgender ideology and so-called same-sex marriage.

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