U.S. Dollars Funding Irish Pro-Life Movement
LatestAfter the death of Dr. Savita Halappanavar—a 31-year-old woman who succumbed to septicaemia and E.coli ESBL after being denied access to an abortion at a hospital in Ireland despite—caused outrage that led the Irish government to finally move to officially pass a law allowing abortion when the mother’s life is at risk, the country has now moved up to the frontline in the fight for abortion rights. Perhaps fearful that the recent policy change, as well as the opening of the first-ever private abortion clinic in Northern Ireland, is an indication that its movement is losing ground internationally, U.S. pro-life group the American Pro-Life Action League has donated “hundreds of thousands of dollars” to the Irish pro-life lobby.
According to Irish writer Angela Nagle, in a piece for The Atlantic, “It has long been assumed in Irish pro-choice circles that [Irish pro-life groups] were getting funding from the U.S.” But it was confirmed as fact this week in an interview that the American Pro-Life Action League’s spokesperson Joseph Scheidler gave to the Sunday Business Post. He singled out Youth Defence, the powerful Irish pro-life group known for posting graphic posters of aborted fetuses around Ireland, saying, “The need the money for publicity.”
Here’s some background info on the Youth Defence: