BELFAST – A six-year-old boy waiting for a heart transplant is seen from above, after the Democratic Unionist Party blocked the Northern Ireland Assembly from passing legislation designed to save the child’s life.
The failed vote at Stormont on Tuesday is illustrated depth Democratic unionist opposition to the post-Brexit trade protocol for Northern Ireland. Its leader stood alone as other parties pressured the DUP to allow final passage. Legislation dubbed the “Law of Death” In honor of the boy daithie mcgabbonand his parents in the visitor’s gallery.
but from the sixth time may assembly electionsDemocratic Unionists used them again veto powers A necessary first step, to prevent the election of the Speaker. This blockage means the legislature in Stormont cannot function, most significantly blocking its ability to form a cross-community government in line with Northern Ireland’s 1998 peace accord.
During the 40-minute Stormont debate, the DUP’s Former First Minister Paul Given Looking up, Mack smiled at the Gabbahan family and praised them for their courageous operation. He then laid the blame on Chris Heaton-Harris, Britain’s Northern Ireland Foreign Minister, for the political impasse.
Given claimed that Heaton-Harris had already privately assured DUP leader Geoffrey Donaldson that the UK government would pass enabling legislation for “Death’s Law” through the House of Commons. He accused Heaton-Harris of “releasing statements to the media and saying different things privately to political parties”.
The UK government had previously adopted this “direct rule” approach by extending British laws to address the DUP protest at Stormont. abortion rights And gay marriage For Northern Ireland via Commons.
The Stormont dysfunction has once again left Northern Ireland behind the rest of the UK in adopting a law already established across the UK. “Death’s Law” implements legal changes in Wales. since 2015England since 2019 and Scotland from 2021, The law in each jurisdiction assumes that people have automatically given consent to donate their organs after death, unless they have registered their objection in a government database.
Northern Ireland, in contrast, still only allows organ donation under the UK’s previous rules, limiting it to cases where the deceased person had clearly recorded their consent beforehand. This sharply limits the potential pool of donors.
For nearly five years, Dathi has been waiting to replace a heart with only half its chambers functioning. their position, known as hypoplastic left heart syndromeOften proves fatal to children within the first few years of life and any long-term shot at survival requires a heart transplant.
A year ago, the boy posed for photographers on the steps of Stormont, his raised hands in joy, after passing the law by the assembly. But it cannot go into effect until the Assembly passes supplemental regulations from the Department of Health, which define how specific types of organs and tissues will be handled.
After the DUP refused to allow this vote on Tuesday, his parents Mertin and Seif – who have avoided direct criticism of the DUP – spoke to the camera again with Jivan, their boy nearby in his wheelchair. I was sleeping
The parents said they intended to travel to London next week to lobby Conservative MPs to support a DUP-backed amendment to an unrelated piece of legislation. Northern Ireland (Executive Constitution) Bill, the bill that postpone A possible new assembly election for April 2024 and a transfer of more decision-making responsibilities to Heaton-Harris and Stormont civil servants – is set to pass all parliamentary stages on Wednesday, February 22, with little debate.
behind the scenes, heaton-harris has rejected the idea of including “Dathi’s law” rules in this bill as legally cumbersome and impractical, while giving Parliament time to debate the matter and pass any private member’s bills. It would be difficult to extract.
Assembly members from five other parties pleaded in vain for the DUP not to waste time pursuing the issue at Westminster. He noted that Doughty was only one of 134 people on Northern Ireland’s list of patients seeking transplants.
Gerry Carroll, an assembly member representing MacGavons’ home district of West Belfast, called the DUP’s stance “absolutely brutal”.
“We are talking about a six-year-old boy who is waiting for a new heart,” Carroll said. “People’s lives are more important than the DUP’s protocol protest.”