In recent weeks, many celebrities from Ireland have voiced their (mostly pro-choice) opinions regarding the upcoming vote to either repeal or keep the Eighth Amendment to the country’s constitution, which protects unborn children’s right to life.
‘Pretty Disappointed’: Fans React After U2’s Surprising Abortion Tweet
As Faithwire previously reported, last week, the band U2 came out in favor of repealing the amendment and called for the legalization of abortion. The band tweeted out a photo showing their support for the “repeal the eighth” campaign.
Vote on May 25th pic.twitter.com/jiCVZvfJuH
— U2 (@U2) May 1, 2018
Many fans were up in arms after U2 made their endorsement, but that didn’t stop another famous celebrity from joining them.
Irish-born actor Liam Neeson stated that not repealing the Eighth Amendment would be an “injustice” to the country and those within it. He said that the time has come to “stand up for what’s right.”
Neeson penned a letter to the Independent published this past Sunday, in which he states it is time for men to stand with women and protect what is right.
“There are times when we must stand for what is right,” Neeson states. “When the obvious injustice of a situation demands that we do so. For me, the upcoming referendum on the Eighth Amendment is one of those times. A time to stand up and be counted. A moment when men must stand with women.”
In his letter, Neeson says that abortion is strictly a woman’s right but that men should support them in their decisions. Tragically, Neeson fails to mention the rights of the unborn.
Ironically, he also mentions his time as a Unicef Goodwill Ambassador for “children’s rights.”
He also encourages others to not stress so much about educating themselves on abortion, stating that “there’s nothing wrong in not knowing everything there is to know about abortion.”
Basically, you’re ignorant of abortion, then you don’t have to worry about the consequence, which just happens to be the death of a human being.
Neeson concludes his letter by stating that repealing the Eighth Amendment is the equivalent of overthrowing the patriarchy in Ireland.
“Yes, gone are the days when our country used to drop our pregnant women and girls off at the gates of institutions that hid them behind high walls,” Neeson wrote. “Yet still, we drop our girlfriends, wives, daughters, sisters and mothers to the departure gates at Dublin Airport, forcing them to travel to other countries to access basic healthcare services and denying them necessary aftercare upon their return.”
LifeNews published a bold rebuttal to Neeson’s tone-deaf piece. An excerpt reads:
This is not true. Earlier this spring, Dr. Eamon McGuinness, a former chairman of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists in Ireland, wrote a column for the Irish Times refuting these exact claims.
If the laws truly were putting women at risk, McGuiness said he “would be leading the charge to have them expunged from the Constitution. A constitutional restriction on my ability, or the ability of any of my colleagues, to save the life of a pregnant woman would indeed be intolerable.”
Since 1983, when Ireland passed its Eighth Amendment to protect unborn babies’ right to life, McGuinness said the country has become one of the safest places in the world for pregnant mothers.
The referendum vote will take place on May 25. So far, polling shows that only 28 percent will vote to keep the amendment, while 47 percent will vote to repeal, and another 20 percent are undecided.