UK laws imposed overnight after local lawmakers were absent for 1,000 days.
Abortion and gay marriage have become legal in Northern Ireland for the first time, rallying Christians against dramatic policy changes put in place without their consent.
Northern Ireland’s longstanding opposition to abortion has made it a pro-life holdout in the United Kingdom, with a local ban against the procedure in all cases except if a mother’s health is in danger. Yet, these abortion restrictions were overturned after lawmakers failed to assemble on Monday to block laws passed on its behalf by the United Kingdom.
The UK directive went into effect midnight last night, meaning women can no longer be prosecuted for obtaining an abortion. Hospitals will not provide abortions in Northern Ireland until April 2020.
“The changes will mean Northern Ireland moves from having the most protective environment for the unborn to having some of the most liberal abortion laws in Europe,” said Peter Lynas, Northern Ireland director of the Evangelical Alliance of the United Kingdom, which co-founded the pro-life, pro-woman campaign Both Lives Matter to oppose reforms.
“They were imposed without the consent of the people of Northern Ireland and will fundamentally shift our culture. There has been a significant mobilization, particularly on the issue of abortion. The issues have also united churches and seen evangelical and Catholics working closely together.”
Northern Ireland, whose Protestant population is now roughly equal to its Catholic population, has resisted efforts to legalize abortion for decades. Research by Both Lives Matter indicates that 100,000 lives have been spared from abortion in the region since the rest of Great Britain adopted the 1967 Abortion Act allowing the procedure.The UK government ...
from Christianity Today Magazine https://ift.tt/2MEE5xX
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