Northern Ireland Legalizes Abortion

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Northern Ireland is now embracing the most extreme abortion legislation in Europe.

In October 2019, abortion was struck from the criminal code, a vote inspired by majority-Catholic Ireland just a year before.

And now, as of March 31, a 12-week-old child can be aborted for any reason.

Babies up to 24 weeks can be slaughtered if two doctors agree "the pregnancy would involve risk of injury to the physical or mental health of the [mother]."

And children with abnormalities can be killed right up to birth. 

While other parts of the U.K. mandate abortions occur in hospitals, the new ruling allows nurses or even midwives to abort children in doctors' offices.

All this was done despite nearly 80% of people responding to a government questionnaire wanting no change to Northern Ireland's abortion laws.

But now that the laws have been passed, Northern Ireland's Catholic bishops are commenting they are "saddened and dismayed at the government's decision to introduce extreme regulations for the delivery of abortion services in Northern Ireland."

Besides abortion, Northern Ireland also voted last October to legalize so-called same-sex marriage.

But while the nation's bishops have been making statements against abortion and same-sex marriage, few have been listening to them — leaving some to wonder if their moral authority means anything at all anymore.

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