Who are the DUP?

After the election resulted in a hung parliament, Theresa May has controversially attempted to team up with the DUP. But who are they and what are their views on important issues?

Abortion:
The DUP are one of the main reasons that women are unable to have an abortion in Northern Island. Arlene Foster, who is the party's leader, vowed last year than she would make sure women are prevented from having an abortion unless their life was in danger and would "carefully consider" if an abortion was acceptable after rape. Because of course she's an expert in the lives of every single woman in Northern Ireland and would DEFINITELY know if a pregnancy was putting their life at risk...The DUP's manifesto includes a section on 'Perinatal hospice care for life limiting conditions' and pledges to give the best medical and emotional support possible to women carrying a child with a life limiting condition. They claim to be committed to 'establishing a perinatal care service or facility in Northern Ireland.' Which really seems like too little help and too little choice.

HIV:
Trevor Clarke, a DUP assembly member, stated last year that he believed only gay men could contract HIV. This lack of knowledge of such an important topic is a serious concern.

LGBT+:
Arlene Foster has previously supported the 'conscience clause' which allows religious people to openly discriminate against anyone from the LGBT+ community without legal consequence. This can lead to LGBT+ people being turned down for jobs due to their sexuality or gender and being refused service.
It's no surprise that the DUP are also against the adoption of children by same-sex couples. And in fact seem to be against the LGBT+ community completely as in 2013, Tom Buchanan, a member of the party, informed schoolchildren that homosexuality is "an abomination". The party also strongly opposes same-sex marriage and have attempted to block gay men from donating blood throughout their lives.

Unfortunately, to obtain a majority government Theresa May has no other choice but to ask nicely if she can team up with the DUP. This gives them a huge amount of power. 
The DUP can ask for anything and Theresa May will give it to them.... a vote against same-sex marriage? 
A vote for banning abortion? 
A vote for halving the wages of the LGBT+ community?
How far will this disgraceful party go?


Despite this, have a beautiful day x


References:

http://www.mydup.com/policies/a-world-class-health-service

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2134162-five-things-you-need-to-know-about-dup-politicians-and-science/?cmpid=SOC%7CNSNS%7C2017-Echobox&utm_campaign=Echobox&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#link_time=1497018511

http://www.pinknews.co.uk/2017/06/09/this-is-what-a-conservative-dup-alliance-could-mean-for-the-lgbt-community/?utm_source=PNT&utm_medium=SocialTwitter&utm_content=TwitterJJ&utm_campaign=PNTwitter

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/who-are-the-dup_uk_593a79c7e4b0b13f2c697d36