Lighting of Belfast City Hall for 'Safe Abortion Day' unlikely to happen

Plans to illuminate Belfast City Hall for ‘International Safe Abortion Day’ on Monday 28 September are now unlikely to go ahead as planned.

The plan to light up the building in green was put forward to the council’s Strategic Policy and Resources Committee by the National Women’s Council of Ireland. It was approved by a council vote of 11 to 3, with Sinn Féin, the Alliance, the SDLP, and the Green Party voting against opposition from the DUP. City Hall has been illuminated for various causes in the past, such as marking Fairtrade Day, but the plans to celebrate an occasion focused on abortion has attracted fierce opposition from Christians in Northern Ireland.

However, the illumination is now unlikely to go ahead after the DUP have used a ‘call-in’ procedure to challenge the decision. This procedure can be requested by councillors if they believe a decision was not properly considered, or if it would disproportionately affect a particular community. The DUP have submitted the call-in on both these grounds, and the city council are now seeking legal counsel. Since this is unlikely to be completed by Monday the lighting of the building will be delayed.

An open letter, signed by a number of Christian and anti-abortion groups, was sent to the council calling on them to reject the plans, and around 20,000 people signed a petition stating: “Public resources and ratepayers’ money must not be used to promote and celebrate the killing of unborn babies… City Hall should be a symbol of Belfast, not a billboard for abortion.”

The director of Precious Life, who organised the petition and who threatened to hold a public protest on the day of the illumination, said: “Abortion is never ‘safe’ because of the physical harm and psychological damage it causes women, and most definitely never 'safe' for the baby who is killed in every abortion.”