The Irish sided this year with a clever propaganda campaign that equated the killing of the unborn with “Love,” complete with heart-shaped signs everywhere, and voted overwhelmingly to legalize abortion.
Since then, Ireland’s leaders have demonstrated that their idea of “choice” is as peculiar as their concept of “love.”
“What we have seen today is the culmination of a quiet revolution [that has been taking place] for the past 10 or 20 years,” Taoiseach (or prime minister) Leo Varadkar, who pushed exceptionally hard for the repeal of the constitutional rule outlawing abortion, said in May. “We are actually a nation that is united, and we want to make this change.”
It gets worse.
The taoiseach aims now to force Catholic hospitals to perform abortions. Like many pro-abortion advocates stateside, who are trying to run roughshod over the First Amendment in an effort to cater to abortionists, Ireland’s rulers have a funny notion of how freedom works.
Varadkar said this week that the government is drafting a proposal that will allow women to request an abortion up to 12 weeks, the BBC reported, adding that the bill will also allow for abortions in extreme cases between 12 and 24 weeks.
He also said the legislation would take its lead from the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013, which gave individual doctors, nurses and midwives the freedom to opt out, the report added.
But here’s where the taoiseach’s remarks take a particularly ugly turn:
“[The legislation] will not, however, be possible for publicly-funded hospitals, no matter who their patron or owner is, to opt out of providing these necessary services which will be legal in this state once this legislation is passed by the Dáil and Seanad (senate),” he said. “I’m happy to give you that assurance.”
Varadkar added, “That legislation will allow individuals to opt out based on their consciences or their religious convictions but will not allow institutions to do so.”
“So, just as is the case now in the legislation for the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013, hospitals like for example Holles Street, which is a Catholic voluntary ethos hospital, the Mater, St Vincent’s and others will be required, and will be expected to, carry out any procedure that is legal in this state, and that is the model we will follow,” he said.
In short, Irish leadership is demonstrating further that the word “choice” (as championed by pro-abortion activists) is utterly meaningless.
Just to make sure there’s no confusion over Varadkar’s meaning, he also said this week that general practitioners would not be allowed the freedom to “opt out of referring women seeking abortions” to other general practitioners “even if they have a conscientious objection,” according to the Sunday Business Post’s Michael Brennan.
The taoiseach said specifically: “Essentially, that is the equivalent of ‘You’re on your own, love,’ and we’re not going to do that in Ireland anymore.”
You had a good run, St. Patrick, but it looks like the snakes are back.
(h/t Joshua Mercer)
