Statement in response to abortion referendum in Ireland

David Smyth, public policy officer at the Evangelical Alliance in Northern Ireland said:

"Today many will mourn the loss of a vital protection for women and their unborn children from the Irish constitution.

"There are very strong feelings on all sides and we want to commend all those who advocated for both lives during this long campaign. We also acknowledge that many well-intentioned people voted yes.

"In England and Wales, for every four children born alive, one has been aborted and 97 per cent of all abortions are physically healthy women aborting physically healthy babies. Unfortunately Ireland appears to be considering following down this path. We would urge caution and hope that legislators will consider the concerns of the hundreds of thousands of people who voted no and temper their plans towards much more modest reform. We hope that the devolved nature of this issue in Northern Ireland will be respected by both the British and Irish Governments.

"The referendum is over but the conversation on how to best support women and unborn children in pregnancy crisis is only just beginning. Now is the time for all sides to put as much resource as they put into their campaigns into services for pregnancy crisis and addressing the structural and systemic inequalities which lead women to believe that abortion is their only 'choice'.

"We live in a consumer culture where personal autonomy is often perceived to be the highest moral good. Abortion cuts to the heart of human identity, relationships and purpose and cannot be redefined as a private or amoral health care choice.

"Today we will continue to tell a better story than abortion, one that is more hopeful, creative and ultimately more human. We believe the local Church has a vital role to play in this as we live out the story of human dignity rooted in divine purposes."

Media enquiries

Danny Webster
Email: d.webster@eauk.org
Phone: 020 7520 3862
Mobile: 07766 444 650

Notes to editors

David Smyth: 07739307656
Peter Lynas: 07899898066

About the Evangelical Alliance

We are the Evangelical Alliance. We join together hundreds of organisations, thousands of churches and tens of thousands of individuals for the sake of the gospel. Representing our members since 1846, the Evangelical Alliance is the oldest and largest evangelical unity movement in the UK.

We love Jesus and we want everyone in the UK to be given an opportunity to know Him.

We love His church, and we will do all we can to unite evangelicals, building confidence in the gospel and speaking as a trusted voice into society to see it changed for Him.

Working across the UK, with offices in London, Cardiff, Glasgow and Belfast, our members come together from across denominations, locations, age groups and ethnicities, all sharing a passion to know Jesus and make Him known.