Also reiterates call for Boylan to resign after 2,500 sign petition in less than 12 hours.

Save the 8th is this morning unveiling a position paper outlining how the Government’s abortion bill introduces abortion for health babies at six months.

The paper can be found here (link)

The paper will be unveiled at a Press Conference which will see the organisation formally unveil its latest round of posters and billboard advertising, which focus on the extreme nature of the Government’s plans.

The Press Conference will also hear a call for Dr. Peter Boylan to resign as Chairman of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, following the publication of an interview in which he lies repeatedly about basic facts.

The case against Dr. Boylan can be found here: (link)

Commenting, Campaign Chairwoman Niamh UiBhriain said:

“Last night, we had outrageous dishonesty from Dr. Peter Boylan. This morning, we are presenting the basic facts about the Government’s proposal.”

“The proposal allows the abortion of a healthy baby, of a healthy mother, for the first three months of pregnancy, for any reason at all.”

“It also allows a healthy baby to be aborted at six months on the grounds of the mother’s mental health.”

“Where a woman has a mental health issue, there are much better solutions than aborting a healthy baby at six months. Abortion does not cure a mental health problem. It does not cure any problem. All it does is to end the life of a healthy baby, often, at this stage of pregnancy, very brutally.”

“These grounds – mental health – have been interpreted in the UK as abortion on demand. 97% of all abortions in the UK happen on mental health grounds.”

“What we have here is a basic lack of awareness amongst the electorate. They simply do not know what the Government is proposing, because nobody is telling them.”

“This must change over the next few weeks, and we are determined that it will change.”

“Outrageous falsehoods”

In this campaign, we have had a lack of information, but we have also had some outrageous falsehoods.

Dr. Peter Boylan’s statements to Hot Press magazine are a matter of the utmost gravity. He has said things that are patently and obviously false, even to the most amateur fact-checker. He must resign immediately. He is not a fit person to put in place medical guidelines for abortion, as is his current role.

His statements follow similar wild and untrue claims from Professor Louise Kenny, who outrageously said in a recent Newstalk interview that “many women are dead” as a result of the 8th amendment. This is a complete fabrication.

We have heard in this campaign many fears about “fake news”. What we have actually had so far is “no news”. People have been permitted to make wild and untrue claims about the 8th amendment, while the Government, Referendum Commission, and YES campaigners are determined to say nothing about the proposal they are introducing.

They know, like we do, that if the public have all the facts, they will vote no. That is why this campaign has been characterised by such a refusal to inform the public.

Video Launch

Today the Save the 8th Campaign are also launching a video which explains the reality of abortion on healthy babies up to six months with Mairead Hughes, a mother who had a premature rupture of the membrane during her pregnancy, telling her story. Mairead experienced this health complication at 17 weeks of pregnancy and she and her baby son received the best maternal care in Ireland.

At 6 months and 1 day her son was born and is healthy today. Should Mairead have lived in the UK, the ‘care’ that she would have been offered was an abortion. Ireland is doing better than this, the 8th Amendment protects mothers and babies.

ENDS