Offaly group attend Rally for Life urging task force to tackle rising abortion rate 

OFFALY Prolife representatives were amongst thousands attending the Rally for Life in Dublin last weekend to hear a call to the government to "Stop aborting our future" as abortion rates increase and birth rates decrease.

In a statement issued after the rally, organisers pointed to housing, cultural failures, and a lack of support, as factors they say need urgent attention. 

One of the Rally's focuses was to kickstart a national campaign to demand the government establishes an urgent task force on the "spiralling abortion rates". 

Figures released earlier this year show that to the end of February 2025, more than 50,000 abortions have taken place in Ireland, which rally organisers have described as a "grim and heartbreaking new record".
Offaly Prolife’s Rena Haverty, who attended the Rally said that the "failure to offer supports to women and to families is leading to the increasing abortion rates while the government turns a blind eye and instead simply focuses endlessly on abortion access".

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At the Rally, spokeswoman Sandra Parda said that the event would kickstart a national campaign to demand that the government establish an urgent task force to tackle what she described as Ireland's "spiralling abortion rate". Ms. Parda said “More than 50,000 abortions have taken place since 2019. That's more than the total population of Longford. It represents more than 100 schools or thousands of classes of children. It's part of Ireland's future growth and development and innovation ended before birth."

She said that 10,000 abortions a year was clearly a factor in the decrease in birth rates - with 7,000 fewer births in 2024 than in 2018, the year abortion was legalised. “We are literally aborting our own future and failing mothers and babies," she said.
The All-Ireland Rally for Life meets every year in Parnell Square before marching to Custom House Quay in a colourful display of banners and flags. Amongst this year's speakers were Aontú's Paul Lawless TD and Dr  Haywood Robinson, a former abortionist who now seeks to bring the public and medical professionals to a deeper understanding of the harm caused by abortion, along with Bernadette Smyth of Precious Life, Vicky Wall of Every Life Counts, and barrister and free speech advocate, Grace Sullivan.
The Rally for Life is organised by Life Institute and Precious Life and is supported by 40 local pro-life groups.

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Offaly Prolife is county based voluntary community network. They are human rights based and part of the pro-life movement, drawing their support from a large cross section of the community.

“Our respect for life extends to all, the unborn child, the refugee, the person without a home of their own, the person without hope and about to commit suicide, the person at risk of being euthanized. We value life from conception to natural death and believe that our everyday actions and laws should reflect this,” said a spokesperson for Offaly Prolife.

More details from www.offalyprolife.com