Tánaiste is against unrestricted abortion access at ANY time – and may oppose law
TÁNAISTE Simon Coveney has revealed he does not believe Ireland should have ‘unrestricted access to abortion at any point in time’ and said he may vote against legislation on the issue.
Mr Coveney said he supports repealing the Eighth Amendment, and wants to prioritise a woman’s health, but pointed out he could not back proposals that give no consideration to the life of the unborn.
The Government has agreed to hold a referendum at the end of May on whether to reform the near-total ban on abortion, which Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has committed to campaigning in favour of.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today With Seán O’Rourke yesterday, the Tánaiste said he had always believed ‘the State has an obligation to protect the unborn child’, and could not support the all-party Oireachtas committee recommendation of allowing unrestricted access to abortion services for up to 12 weeks.
He said: ‘I agree with the majority of their recommendations. I think that the State has to protect women in pregnancy; that needs to be the number one priority.
‘But I also believe that the State has an obligation to protect an unborn child also. Where this gets difficult is where those two responsibilities are intertwined.
‘I think we have to prioritise a woman’s life and a woman’s health.’ Asked if this meant he would oppose the legislation, Mr Coveney replied: ‘There may be elements that I will oppose, I’ll have to wait and see.’
He suggested that he would attempt to amend the legislation to bring it into line with his beliefs. ‘Anybody who knows how the political legislative system works knows that a starting point in legislation is often not the end point,’ he said.
The Tánaiste said he did ‘not accept’ the advice given to the Committee that abortion in cases of rape and incest would be impossible to legislate for, information which paved the way for the 12week recommendation as a type of catch-all.