As the Journal states: “A ROW BROKE out over the airwaves and in print, after the Pro-Life Campaign’s Cora Sherlock claimed Ireland had a ‘phenomenal record’ on maternal health, up to the introduction of the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act in 2013.”

Cora’s exact words, which aired on Morning Ireland weeks ago, were:

“Ireland…had a phenomenal record in protecting women’s health and protecting maternal health, right up to 2013, when abortion was introduced in this country…”

In retort to her comment, the Irish Times’s Fintan O’Toole said her claim was “based on figures that have long since been shown to be ludicrous”.

Unfortunately the only ludicrous thing is Mr. O’Toole’s comment on the figures which show quite the opposite to what he referred to. You can listen to Ms. Sherlock’s interview here.

The truth is, for the past 30 years, Ireland has been among the leading nations with the lowest maternal mortality rate (MMR). The World Health Organisation reports, that out of 183 countries considered, the nations with liberal abortion laws had and still have higher maternal mortality rates, whereas Ireland’s MMR has been a consistent 6, and only rarely rising or dropping.

It seems that Mr. O’Toole did not check up on his facts before making his false comment.

Luckily, in a search for the truth, the Journal published a Factcheck story to clear the confusion surrounding Sherlock’s statement.

When her sources where checked by Factcheck they found little to suggest that Cora had lied in her statement, meaning Mr. O’Toole made an uneducated fib.

Read the full Factcheck story here.