PRO-CHOICE COMMITTEE MEMBERS: 12 WEEKS ‘JUST THE START’
Politicians looking beyond repealing the Eighth
THE repeal of the Eighth Amendment will only be the start of the campaign to liberalise abortion laws, pro-choice politicians said yesterday.
The Oireachtas committee on the Eighth Amendment published its final report yesterday which recommended that abortion should be available up to 12 weeks of pregnancy without restriction.
However, the vice-chair of the committee, Senator Lynn Ruane, said that even under the proposed 12-week law, women would still be ‘forced to travel’ if they want an abortion later than
this point. Further liberalisation up to 22 weeks and on socio-economic grounds – proposals Ms Ruane supported in the committee, but were rejected – were grounds ‘we can continue to work on’, she said.
People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith, another member of the Oireachtas committee who voted in favour of the more liberal proposals, agreed. She said yesterday that despite the committee’s report, women ‘don’t have access to full bodily autonomy’.
She added: ‘We actually have to get rid of the Eighth Amendment first.’
Meanwhile, committee chair Catherine Noone warned that the campaign leading up to an expected May referendum on repealing Article 40.3.3, which recognises the equal right to life of the mother and the unborn child, was likely to be fraught.
‘There will be a lot of misinformation,’ she said. ‘It will be difficult to keep the debate factual. Anyone can get on the airwaves, and people can be opportunistic.’ The report found the current Constitutional prohibition on abortion is ‘unfit for purpose’ and reform is necessary. The reality is that thousands of Irish women are already accessing abortion services each year, the report said.
This is by way of travel to the UK and, to a lesser extent, the Netherlands and other jurisdictions,
‘It’s been a tough three months’
while terminations are also being obtained illegally, by way of online services and the abortion pill.
Other recommendations of the committee say that abortion should be lawful where the life or health of the woman is at risk and that in the case of the latter, no distinction should not be drawn between physical and mental health. The committee’s central recommendation is that the law should be amended to permit abortion with no restriction up to 12 weeks, provided that it is availed of through a GP-led service. ‘I trust our doctors and medical professionals,’ said chair Ms Noone, who also paid tribute to her former party leader, Enda Kenny, for suggesting the Citizens’ Assembly as a way forward.
‘It’s now over to the Oireachtas to decide how to proceed,’ she said. ‘It’s been a tough three months, but I’m proud of the work we have done.’
Asked if she thought the referendum would pass, she replied: ‘Who knows? There is a huge job of work to be done in getting it across to not only the electorate, but the Oireachtas. There is a huge education process involved.’
But she said she hoped the large majority of members who backed the recommendations showed a ‘maturity’ which she hoped would feed through to the debate to come. Fellow Fine Gael TD Kate O’Connell said it was the job of Fine Gael members of the committee to ‘bring our colleagues with us on that journey’ when it came to the referendum campaign and proposed legislation. Labour TD Jan O’Sullivan said she campaigned against the Eighth nearly 35 years ago and ‘hoped this debate will be very different – knocking on doors in 1983 was fairly horrific’.
Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger said she believed it was now ‘a totally different society’ to 1983. She said: The middle ground is now pro-choice... I don’t think the debate will be as divisive as people make out.’