I was on the Nolan Show on Radio Ulster/Raidio Uladh this morning. They were talking about the planned demonstration in front of Belfast City Hall today by pro-choicers in the abortion debate. They plan to have abortion pills delivered by a robot, controlled from the Netherlands, and some women there will then publicly take these abortion pills, thus challenging the law against abortion.
My comment was that, whatever your views on abortion, it was a clever publicity stunt, bringing together robots and the abortion question, both topics of interest to the general public. I also suggested that a wave of pro-abortion was heading from the south, where abortion up to twelve weeks was endorsed in the recent referendum, and that the DUP was going to be about the only party here opposed to abortion.
It was around this point that Alison Morris, political editor of the Irish News (VO) addressed me and said “Well, we all know where you stand on this subject, Jude”. I was taken aback for two reasons: one, I’d thought I was on air to talk about the demonstration in front of Belfast City Hall; and two, because the comment sounded more like a condemnation than a statement. Alison went on to say that the language I had used about abortion on my blog would have made any DUPer blush, and that my blog language was the kind of thing which traumatised women who’d had miscarriages. (I think that’s what she said – hard to remember when your jaw’s dropping). I picked myself off the floor and asked Alison the obvious question: what word or words had I used that would make a DUPer blush and what words had traumatised people who’d had miscarriages? She said she wouldn’t repeat them, they were so bad. Which as I pointed out, was to make an accusation, quite insulting and serious, and then refuse to cite evidence.
I’m going to be blunt: Alison has some cheek. I’m opposed to abortion, so I write about not destroying what I see as a human life. She’s (presumably) pro-abortion, which in my view destroys human life. Yet she accuses me of traumatising? FFS. And then fails to cite a word of supporting evidence for her charge? FFS X2.
There is a tendency among some people who disagree with you to demonise you for daring to have a different opinion. I’m aware there are hundreds of thousands of people in Ireland who are pro-abortion, and I think they are wrong; but I’m not going to attack them for having the views they have. I’ll debate those views but I won’t attack them for daring to possess them. I think it’s about time pro-abortion people like Alison learned to do the same thing when talking to those opposed to abortion.
I mean, FFS X 3.
This is the link – skip to around 25 mins in for Alison’s denunciation…
Comments are closed.