National Women's Council comes under fire at AGM of Offaly ProLife

THE policy of the National Women's Council on abortion came under fire at the annual general meeting of Offaly ProLife held in Tullamore last week.
The meeting was chaired by John Egan from Shannon Harbour, Offaly ProLife chairperson.
Sile Quinlivan of the ProLife Campaign spoke of the enthusiasm  of students attending the ProLife Student Summit weekend and the “Regional marches for Life” held in Cork, Galway, Donegal and Dublin.
She also highlighted the comprehensive report called  “End the Silence” which was submitted to the Government's Three Year Review of Ireland's abortion law.
The speaker explained the report proposes a series of amendments to the legislation to “curb the excesses of what is permitted under the new abortion regime”.
Ms Quinlivan claimed the “huge increase in the abortion rate since its introduction was a national  tragedy”.
She stressed that a woman with a crisis pregnancy “needs to be informed of alternatives to abortion and should be allowed at least a three day waiting period before making such a life changing decision.”
The speaker was also extremely critical of what she termed the “pro abortion” National Women's  Council (NWCI).
“The group claims to represent  all  women, while pushing more extreme abortion laws in Ireland and ignoring all other dissenting women's voices. Thousands of people have already signed the PLC's  'Not My Voice'  online petition calling for the defunding of the National Women's Council,” she added.
Tom Finnegan of the ProLife Trust gave a thought provoking presentation in relation to their charitable mission.
He listed the work carried out through organisations like Gianna Care and Hughs House due  to  funds raised in Offaly.
Sandra Parda of the Life Institute informed the meeting about their ongoing work.
The chairperson thanked the Secretary Mary Lee Sheehan, who was unavoidably absent, for her great work in setting up their website, offalyprolife.com and all the people who helped out with fundraising events including baby showers, 5k Run/ walk/cycle and a table quiz.
He said that “all the initiatives  and projects undertaken are focused on rebuilding a culture of life in Ireland and ensuring that abortion never becomes normalised or accepted as something routine in society at large.”