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 he
Irish
pro-life referendum has been lost for the want of a few thousand
votes. Out of 1.2 million votes cast, 10,500 made the difference.
It has been
lost in part because of a disastrous split in the pro-life movement.
Some pro-life leaders managed to convince themselves that what was
on offer would lead to embryo experimentation. This interpretation
was offered against all expert analysis to the contrary, but they
managed to persuade enough pro-life voters over to the "No"
side to hand abortionists in Ireland the victory they so fervently
sought in this referendum. Conservatives really can be their own
worst enemies.
What will happen
now? The purpose of the amendment was to roll back a decision of
the Irish supreme court to allow abortion on highly dubious suicide
grounds. Now pro-abortion groups and political parties are clamoring
for legislation to give effect to this decision.
They won't
get their way today or tomorrow — the closeness of the vote
has not given them the mandate they might have wanted — but
sooner or later they will prevail. When that happens we will have
abortion in Ireland. At first it will be on theoretically limited
grounds, but soon what is limited in theory will become wide in
practice and Ireland has an abortion culture indistinguishable from
that of America or Britain.
A bleak, black
day.
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