Will Ireland Again be a Sign of Hope?

My first visit to Ireland, in 1987, was much like a homecoming. So long had I heard about this beautiful land and followed its fortunes, so many of my ancestors had come from it, so deeply did I love it, that I seemed to belong.

This was even more the case because my native United States had lost its way so profoundly, especially on matters of life and death. Ending virtually all protection for unborn children, it was killing well over one million of them every year. There was also a strong campaign for legalized euthanasia in the States. American foreign policy was highly interventionist and aggressive: overthrowing some governments, propping up others that oppressed their own people, deciding other nations' inte rnal policies through the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the United Nations.

It was a great relief to visit Ireland, where unborn children were safe, where there appeared to be no campaign to kill elderly and disabled people, and where the re was a peaceful foreign policy and a friendly attitude toward Third-World countries. In the North of Ireland, although armed troops patrolled the streets of Belfast and Derry, there were dogged peace efforts by John Hume and others.

Especially when compared with my own country, Ireland seemed a sign of hope for a troubled world.

On my later Irish trips, in 1988 and 1990, there was still much reason for hope in the North. Following the situation from a distance ever since, with all the ups and downs of the peace process, I have been confident that the problems in the North can be solved and that time can heal the wounds there.

The abortion situation, though, has been discouraging, with an alarming amount of support for abortion from Irish media and polit ical figures. In the 1992 "X" case, they seemed to mobilize nearly all their resources to ensure that the unborn child whose life was at stake would, in fact, die. They framed the case for abortion of Baby X in terms of the mother's liberty, forgetting that there is no liberty without life.

During all of my visits to Ireland, there were signs of the negative cultural change that had occurred earlier in the States, including a coarsening of language and literature and more acceptance of casual sex (with no commitment or love for the other party or the child the union might produce). There was, to be sure, resistance to cultural decay, but the media elite of Ireland seemed to think such resistance proved that their country was backward and benighted, lack ing in sophistication. At heart they appeared to be embarrassed by their own country.

The same trends and attitudes in the United States have led to epidemics of sexually-transmitted diseases, an inability of many young adults to grow up, skyrocketing divo rce rates, many single parents and neglected children, huge numbers of abortions, and much personal misery. These are the results of our "enlightenment" and "sophistication."

The U.S. Declaration of Independence speaks of the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, but many Americans have lost their respect for life, and the country has not for a long time been a truly happy one. (Americans have much "fun"--indeed, they pursue it obsessively--but that is not the same as happiness.) A large group works to restore respect for life, but fights an uphill battle against the mighty resources of the American "power elite."

As for liberty, all Americans treasure it. (I recall the 1855 letter from one of my Irish great-grandfathers, to his sister i n the USA, asking for passage money to the "Land of Liberty.") But America's founding principles did not include liberty to kill the innocent.

It has been a matter of great sadness to see Ireland becoming more like contemporary America, rather than standing firm with sounder values and justice for all.

The coming referendum offers Ireland a chance to become again a sign of hope and peace for a troubled world. If the people of Ireland vote to protect unborn children, then there is hope for other countries. Not just for their unborn children, but also for those threatened by war, euthanasia and the death penalty. Abortion is a truly radical act, destroying human lives where they are most defenseless - precisely where they need the greatest protection. Attacking human beings there also attacks the very idea of human life and a human future. Conversely, protecting our young brothers and sisters there offers real hope of protecting them all along the line.

With a lever, Archimedes said, "Give me where to stand , and I will move the earth." Perhaps Ireland, by defending human life with courage and eloquence, can do the same.

American writer Mary Meehan writes in opposition to abortion, the death penalty, eugenics, euthanasia, and war. Her Web site, "Meehan Reports," is at: http://members.verizon.net/~meehan4