In the light of the Westminster Parliament’s forcing of new and liberal abortion laws upon Northern Ireland and the enfeebled DUP response to this imposition, it might be timely to consider just where the DUP once stood on this vital moral issue.
In 1984, Rev Ivan Foster, Free Presbyterian minister in Kilskeery and a DUP member (he resigned from the party in the late 1980s) of the Northern Ireland Assembly for Fermanagh & South Tyrone, introduced a motion in the Assembly which read: ‘I propose: That this Assembly opposes the extension of the Abortion Act 1967, or any like legislation, to Northern Ireland.’
Read Rev. Ivan Foster’s 1984 Speech to the Northern Ireland Assembly
The motion was supported by all members of the DUP and passed. Only one member of the Assembly voted against it. He was the Alliance member for East Belfast, the late Mr. Addie Morrow.
What was said by Rev Foster in opposition to abortion in 1984 is still relevant and applicable over 37 years later!