Every Life Counts is a support network for families whose child is diagnosed with a life limiting condition in the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

. They campaign for the creation of a perinatal

hospice Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life by ...

in Ireland, as an opposition to

abortion Abortion is the termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. An abortion that occurs without intervention is known as a miscarriage or "spontaneous abortion"; these occur in approximately 30% to 40% of pregn ...

in cases of life limiting conditions, claiming it is not a "pathway to healing", and that abortion causes depression and distress. They are opposed to the term ''"fatal foetal abnormalities"'' or ''" incompatible with life"'' calling it an "ugly term", preferring the term ''"life limiting condition"''. They point out that some people diagnosed with life limiting conditions (e.g. Patau syndrome Trisomy 13), live for many years after birth. After the 2016

Mellet v Ireland ''Mellet v Ireland'' is a finding from the United Nations Human Rights Committee in 2016 that the Republic of Ireland's abortion laws violated human rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights by banning abortion in cases o ...

UN case, they claimed the

United Nations Human Rights Committee The United Nations Human Rights Committee is a treaty body composed of 18 experts, established by a 1966 human rights treaty, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Committee meets for three four-week sessions per y ...

"deliberately ignored the experiences of families who had received great joy and love from carrying their babies to term". They made a submission to the

Citizens' Assembly A citizens' assembly (also known as citizens' jury or citizens' panel or people's jury or policy jury or citizens' initiative review or consensus conference or citizens' convention) is a body formed from randomly selected citizens to delibera ...

, which discussed Ireland's abortion laws, where they claimed that abortion is not a solution to a fatal foetal abnormalities diagnosis. They were selected as one of the groups to make a presentation to the members of the Citizens' Assembly.

References

{{Abortion in the Republic of Ireland Anti-abortion organisations in the Republic of Ireland

See also

References