I recently attended a public meeting in Enniskillen by Claire Hanna. She spoke at length about issues such as Healthcare, Lough Neagh pollution and a New Ireland.
I welcomed many of these discussions, particularly talk of greater levels of fiscal devolution for the North of Ireland.
Towards the end of this short meeting, the crowd asked a few questions.
I raised my hand, however, I was told by Councillor Adam Gannon that there was no time for further questions. I insisted I’d only be ten seconds but was advised to ask my question after the meeting to Claire directly. Claire initially seemed pleasant when I briefly spoke to her, but that soon changed.
I introduced myself as a member of Aontú and complimented her on some of the talk e.g. fiscal devolution.
Then I simply asked how someone of such moral clarity when it comes to the taking of innocent lives of children and babies in Palestine could vote in favour of an amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill which sought to decriminalise abortion.
She immediately became hostile and said it was only bringing legislation for England and Wales in line with what we already have in the North of Ireland.
I pointed out that this amendment offered no legal safeguards for a fully developed baby in the womb, a fact that she dismissed.
Her behaviour then changed in a way which can easily be described as unbecoming for a Member of Parliament.
She started pointing at me aggressively and talked over me. I told her calmly that she hadn’t answered my question and as a means of avoidance she put a question to me instead.
She asked a hypothetical about the criminalisation of abortion for under 12 weeks, to which I explained I’m unelected and my position is irrelevant to the question I’m asking her.
Claire stormed off after this heated exchange, and none of us are any wiser in understanding how she could support something so morally abhorrent.
The vote I referred to effectively covered all abortions for any reason up until birth. It’s interesting her hypothetical focused on being within a 12-week timeframe. Deep down, maybe she recognises it becomes harder to justify abortion the later it occurs in pregnancy.
Maybe I challenged her ideology, and her inability to tolerate dissent on this issue is what made her defensive. Maybe she’s genuinely morally conflicted.
Either way, this is what she voted in favour of. If that is her position, she should at least own it. Obfuscating, talking over and reacting aggressively towards members of the public isn’t how we should expect our elected representatives to react.
If facing scrutiny for voting in favour of something so appalling is unbearable, then maybe she shouldn’t have supported it.
The House of Commons debate which preceded her vote provided the example of New Zealand which decriminalised abortion in 2019 and subsequently seen a 43% increase in late-term abortions. Decriminalising abortion removes any legal deterrent for taking an unborn life, and this example follows the same trend as liberalising other abortion laws, which are also typically accompanied by a dramatic increase in the number of abortions.
Almost 1 in 3 pregnancies in England and Wales now end in abortion as we’re simultaneously experiencing a global birth rate crisis. Anyway, in the off-chance Claire Hanna is reading this I’d like a clear answer explaining why she voted in favour of removing the human right to life for all babies in the womb – something fellow SDLP MP, Colum Eastwood also supports. Logically if they support decriminalising the murder of babies inside the womb, why don’t they hold the same stance for premature babies? Does a baby only become human after birth?
I’d also appeal to any decent and moral SDLP supporter – many of whom were in the crowd – to seriously consider what the party has now become. The moral decency that characterised revered figures such as John Hume is completely absent from the current leadership.
I’d urge any member of the public or free-thinking journalist to put this same question to her or any other MP that supported this amendment.
Elected representatives are answerable to the public. If anyone reading this encounters her in person, then please ask the same question and hold her accountable. No doubt, you will also quickly see her mask disappear.
I’m no mind reader but maybe Claire’s sudden mood switch was because deep in her soul she knows abortion is a hideously evil act but because of the political position of the SDLP she (and they) has to be in favour of it publicly? Same as Sinn Féin. I am opposed to it but I still vote SF. Politics from home, religion from Rome. Funny, the loyalists were fond of accusing us of being religious in our political thinking yet they are the ones who make no bones about following Calvin or Wesley or Luther’s teachings. How things have changed.
A question for Mr Duffy. Why in the midst of the genocide of Palestinians including tens of thousands of children, does Aontu candidate Herdman insist on peening anti Palestinian letters to the Irish News?
That sounds more like a question for Mr. Herdman. Personally, I’ve visited Palestine and seen the people’s mistreatment first-hand, including watching armed IDF guards come onto a bus and intimidate locals. I’ve publicly spoken out against Israeli actions in Palestine as have Aontú.
Should have asked Clare to go pop the kettle on