On Friday night (6 September), a huge protest took place at the Northern Ireland Assembly in opposition to the imposition of one of the most liberal laws on abortion in the world on Northern Ireland on October 22. This will come about unless the NI Executive is restored by October 21. Tens of thousands of people from right across Northern Ireland came along to take part in a silent protest on behalf of those who are unborn and who have no voice. We are hugely grateful to the organisers of NI Voiceless who put in a lot of work to ensure the protest happened. We were delighted to be able to throw our full weight behind the event.

It was hugely powerful to take part in this protest alongside so many others. Walking up the hill with a group of people who hold diverse opinions on so many other subjects but are united in their desire to uphold the value and worth of both lives in a pregnancy, both mother and baby was so deeply moving. Unionist, Nationalist and those who view themselves as neither; male and female; individuals with faith commitments and those without; old and young all united for life. Many pro-life people can sometimes feel lonely in the position they take; Friday night showed that many in Northern Ireland believe law and policy should affirm life.

We are grateful to each and every person who gave up their Friday night to send a message to our politicians about what we think about this proposed law. It was a real positive to see so many political leaders from different political parties and backgrounds in attendance. We are grateful to them for their stand for life in recent years. We hope they will redouble their efforts to bring the Executive back. The people of Northern Ireland do not want this imposition. Our politicians will not want to ignore the strong message from those of us who gathered at Stormont on Friday: we were not asked, they cannot speak.

We hope our politicians hear the message. Bring the Executive back to prevent this unjust law from ever coming into force. In the weeks ahead, we will continue to make the case for a restored Assembly and we hope you will too.

By Tim Martin

CARE NI Director