LoveBoth warn children with special needs will be targeted in womb; USI offers bursary for students to fly home
The LoveBoth campaign have urged the electorate to see beyond the arguments of a number of obstetricians and doctors who are taking to the airwaves to "explain away and muddy the waters about the targeting of children with special needs in the womb."
In a statement tonight Cora Sherlock of the LoveBoth campaign suggested such doctors cannot hide from the fact that abortion on demand disproportionately takes the lives of children with disabilities.
"There is no reason to doubt that with accurate testing at 10 weeks in the event of repeal of the Eighth Amendment, we would see a massive increase in abortion where Down syndrome is detected, just like in England, Norway, Iceland, Denmark and other countries where there is no protection for unborn disabled children.”
“We can no longer hide from the fact that the result of repeal of the Eighth Amendment would be that children with conditions such as Down syndrome would gradually disappear from society as has happened in countries like Iceland.
Meanwhile, The Union of Students in Ireland (USI) has launched a campaign which offers Irish students studying in the UK a bursary to travel home to vote in the upcoming referendum.
The UK wide "Home to V8te" campaign encourages Irish students studying in institutions in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to travel home to vote in the referendum on the Eighth Amendment on May 25th.
Students can receive a travel bursary between £55 and £110 towards their flights to pay for the flights home to vote.
Speaking about campaign, USI President Michael Kerrigan said: “Any Irish citizens studying in the UK can get in touch with their Students’ Union and avail of a travel bursary fund that Students’ Unions can apply to."
Wexford native Séagh Kehoe, who is studying a PhD in Contemporary Chinese Studies at the School of Politics and International Relations in the University of Nottingham, is travelling home to canvass.
"It is absolutely vital that anyone who is eligible to vote in the referendum on May 25 does so," they said.
This is a huge opportunity, a once-in-a-generation chance for everyone to have a say in shaping the future of Ireland and the kind of society we want to be a part of.
"Every single vote counts. For many of us currently scattered around the globe, Ireland will always be home and we want to return at some point."
The USI announced this week that Students’ Unions all over Ireland have directly registered 26,979 new student voters in the in the lead up to the referendum.
