The Iona Institute NI welcomes the decision of the Supreme Court in the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission Review Case published today.

Iona NI spokeswoman Tracy Harkin states

‘This formal ruling today by the supreme court, the highest legal opinion of the land, re-affirms Northern Ireland’s pro-life laws. As the ruling indicates, the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission did not have standing to bring this case and as a result no formal determination of incompatibility of our pro-life laws with human rights was made. Once again we see affirmed that there is no human right to an abortion’.

‘We welcome the fact that this ruling makes clear that it is not for the courts to change our pro-life laws, but for legislators, whether at Stormont or Westminster; and we find it not a little ironic that in the same week that this ruling is released we had the emergency debate at Westminster where the government re-affirmed the fact that abortion is a devolved issue for NI’.

Tracy continues

‘We are thankful for the resilient defence of life that the majority of our local representatives across the political spectrum continue to exhibit. Our pro-life laws have saved 100,000 lives; lives that matter and that are worth something and which we value in our society. The pro-life movement in NI will continue to advocate for support and services that value the life, health, and dignity of both mother and unborn child in even the most difficult circumstances’.

‘We acknowledge the opinions of the judges that, personally speaking, they do believe there to be an incompatibility between our laws and human rights; but we welcome and praise their integrity that they did not let such personal opinions affect their legal judgement in this case. We would now encourage the NIHRC to focus its attention on the pressing human rights issues that affect our society, such as human trafficking and slavery, freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, and the abuses of human rights that occur for those stricken by severe poverty or who are on the margins of society’.

Ends.

For more information please contact Tracy Harkin 07531149891 or ionainstituteni@gmail.com