'Dublin Rally for Life a smash success'



LifeSiteNews carries a report by Thaddeus Baklinski on 4 July on a pro-life rally in my native city last Saturday.

DUBLIN, July 4. 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Saturday’s pro-life rally in Dublin was a smash success, with organizers estimating a turnout of more than 7,000 - more than double the attendance at the last Dublin rally in 2009.

Organizers of the All-Ireland Rally for Life said that the huge turnout served as a warning to the majority Fine Gael party that plans by the minority Labour Party to introduce legislation to legalize abortion in Ireland are unacceptable to the majority of Irish people.

The rally was composed of more young people than ever before and included the Bishop of Derry, Séamus Hegarty. Participants began at the Garden of Remembrance in Parnell Park and marched down O’Connell Street, with open-top busses, music and balloons lending a festive atmosphere; the march concluded at Dáil Éireann, where participants heard from former MEP, Dana Rosemary Scallon. Read full report.

Monday's edition of The Irish Times carried a report by Cían Nihill under the heading Pro-choice and anti-abortionists rally in Dublin. Today's edition has letters by two participants thanking the paper for its coverage of the event. The only quibble I would have is with the headline which describes those who are pro-abortion as 'pro-choice', a misleading term which even ardent pro-lifers have come to use. One might question 'anti-abortionist' but it's not inaccurate, though less comprehensive than 'pro-lifers'.

The Republic of Ireland, where abortion is illegal, has one of the lowest maternal mortality rates in the world, 6 deaths per 100,000 births, compared to 170 in the Philippines and 8 in the USA. The three countries with the worst record, 1,100 per 100,000 births are the Central African Republic, Malawi and Mozambique. Chile, where abortion is illegal, has the lowest rate in South America, 23. Greece and Grenada have the lowest in the world, 1.