Member's statement: Abortion
Member's statement by Mr Timothy Gaston on .
- MLA
- Mr Timothy Gaston
- Party at the time
- Traditional Unionist Voice
- Date
- 9 December 2025
- Type
- Member's statement
- Business
- Members' Statements
- Heading
- Abortion
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 5295559
Read the official Assembly record
Text
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. Since abortion was decriminalised through the legislation imposed on the Province as part of the package that facilitated the return of Stormont, the number of abortions carried out has risen year on year. We now know that, between 2020 and 2024, more than 8,000 lives were taken through abortion in Northern Ireland. An answer that I received yesterday from the Finance Minister raises further questions. In response to my question asking how many death certificates had been issued for babies who were born alive after an abortion procedure, the Minister stated that a search of death registrations for the category of termination of pregnancy affecting fetus and newborn identified 32 deaths up to the end of 2024 where that cause was recorded on the death certificate as either contributory or underlying. We should all reflect on what that means. Those were living children, infants who had taken their first breaths. They are 32 little boys and girls whose deaths were officially recorded as being affected by a termination of pregnancy. Whatever the circumstances leading to those procedures, whether elective or in situations where the mother's health or life was in danger, the stark fact remains that those children were born alive and, sadly, later died. Each one represents a tragedy. The headline statistics demonstrate that the way that the issue was framed by many media outlets before the change in the law was deeply dishonest. We were told repeatedly that legal change was required for so-called hard cases, yet 8,000 abortions in four years did not occur because of the exceptional situations promoted by those with an anti-life agenda. As abortion becomes more common, it is anything but compassionate to ignore the social pressures — economic, familial and cultural — that push women towards ending a pregnancy. A genuinely humane society would champion the truth that every human life is worthy of protection. I commend organisations such as Precious Life and the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, which continue to do that. It remains my deep conviction that abortion is the greatest moral evil of our lifetime. While others may prefer to look the other way, I will ensure that no one can say that they were unaware of the quiet holocaust taking place in our Province.
385 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
Assessment
Jev’s structured answers met the documented threshold for “not flagged”.
- Overall probability that the activity is being used to promote, exploit or escalate an identity-based controversy: 0.56 (flagging needs at least 0.70; at or below 0.30 is not flagged).
- None of the five culture-war criteria was met (each was below 0.60).
- No identity-based framing was identified (0.63).
- Subject area: Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues.
- The overall probability was moderate at most and none of the culture-war criteria was close to being met.
This is an AI-generated assessment of the text, made against published criteria. It is not a finding of fact about the MLA or their intentions. The Assembly record itself is the fact.
Jev’s structured answers
| Question | Probability | Met? |
|---|---|---|
| Identity framing | 0.17 | No |
| Sectarian or communal antagonism | 0.19 | No |
| Cultural grievance politics | 0.02 | No |
| Dog-whistle messaging | 0.43 | No |
| Controversy escalation | 0.29 | No |
| Legitimate policy scrutiny | 0.33 | No |
| Overall judgement | 0.56 | Between thresholds |
| Option | Probability |
|---|---|
| No identity-based framing (chosen) | 0.63 |
| Reports or questions it | 0.00 |
| Criticises or condemns it | 0.01 |
| Adopts it | 0.36 |
| Subject | Probability |
|---|---|
| Gender, sexuality, abortion and related social issues | 1.00 |
| No identity-related subject | 0.00 |
| Flags, emblems, symbols, names and memorials | 0.00 |
| Parades, bonfires and commemorations | 0.00 |
| Irish language, Ulster-Scots and language policy | 0.00 |
Assessed 21 October 2026 at 14:07 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.
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