The primate of All-Ireland has insisted that the country's new abortion law that took effect on January 1 has "no moral force" and it "must be resisted" by Catholics.
Archbishop Eamon Martin of Armagh, Northern Ireland, who also is president of the Irish bishops' conference, said in a message to mark the legislation that the new law "in good conscience cannot be supported".
"In a May 22 referendum, voters opted by a margin of 2-1 to lift the country's constitutional protection of the right to life of unborn children. The new law will permit abortion on demand up to 12 weeks' gestation. It also will permit abortion up to 24 weeks on unspecified grounds for the health of the mother, and up to birth where the child is diagnosed with a life-limiting condition that means he or she may not live long after birth," he said.
