‘There’ll be no abortion clinics in Ireland’ – Leo
Taoiseach says hospitals will apply for licence in event of Yes vote
NO abortion clinics will open in Ireland if the Eighth Amendment is repealed, the Taoiseach has said.
Ahead of what he described as a ‘once-in-a-generation’ opportunity, Leo Varadkar urged the public to vote to allow crisis pregnancies to be dealt with compassionately.
He said that no abortion clinics would open in the event of a Yes vote, but that hospitals would be allowed to apply for licences to perform surgical terminations.
The Taoiseach made comments ahead of a referendum next week to liberalise Ireland’s strict abortion laws. He said it is only a matter of time before a woman dies in Ireland as a result of using abortion pills bought online.
Mr Varadkar said women were increasingly importing pills online because of the current laws and they were being used unsafely.
‘It’s only a matter of time before somebody loses their life as a result of taking one of those pills over the internet. It has happened in other countries.’
Mr Varadkar asked people to bear that in mind when they vote.
‘Let’s not wait for this to happen,’ he said. ‘If there is a No vote on Friday I think it’s only a matter of time before somebody haemorrhages or bleeds to death or dies as a result of using these pills unregulated.’
Voters will next week cast their ballot on whether to repeal the amendment in the Constitution, which gives equal right to life to the mother and to the unborn, and replace it with wording to allow the Dáil to legislate for the termination of pregnancies.
If passed, it would legislate for abortions for up to 12 weeks of pregnancy without restriction.
Currently, terminations are only allowed in the Republic when the life of the mother is at risk, including from suicide, and the maximum penalty for accessing an illegal abortion is 14 years in prison.
The Taoiseach assured voters there would be no abortion clinics in Ireland.
He told RTÉ Radio 1’s Seán O’Rourke programme: ‘Really it’s only going to be licensed institutions or hospitals where surgical terminations will be able to take place,’ he said, when asked about the possibility of abortion clinics opening. It won’t be unrestricted and it won’t be on demand,’ Mr Varadkar said.
‘No woman who is experiencing crisis pregnancy will be able to go into the pharmacy and bang the table and demand abortion pills. Not that I think anyone would ever do that.’
He said women who wanted to end a pregnancy would be required to see a doctor and have to wait 72 hours before making the decision. Mr Varadkar added that a doctor would have to confirm the pregnancy was less than 12 weeks.
Put to him that that could change in future, he replied: ‘It’s not the plan and there’s no provision in the draft legislation for the opening of abortion clinics.’
He said the intention of the legislation is to replicate what is already contained in the Protection of Life Act During Pregnancy Act of 2013, which lists a number of existing medical institutions and hospitals. ‘Bear in mind, what we want to do as well is to minimise and avoid the number of surgical terminations, the ones which require a woman to go to hospital,’ he added.
Next Friday’s vote will be a oneoff decision which Mr Varadkar believes ‘really defines how we’re going to treat women in crisis for the next generation’.
‘The case that we’re making is that the Eighth Amendment has failed. People who, perhaps with the best intentions, put that into our Constitution back in 1983 thought that it would save lives, thought that it would prevent abortion. It hasn’t’ he said.
‘We know that abortion is a reality in Ireland. Nine women every day are travelling to Britain and to other countries to end their pregnancies. And increasingly, women are importing abortion pills online and doing it in a way that is not safe, without medical advice, about counselling, without an opportunity to talk about some of the alternatives to abortion that are out there.’
Mr Varadkar also addressed his own support for the Eighth Amendment as recently as 2015, saying that his experience of dealing with the hard cases while he was Minister for Health, in particular the Miss P case involving a clinically brain dead pregnant woman on life support, helped to change his mind.
This was a journey he felt many Irish people had taken, adding: ‘Life experience teaches you that there are some very grey areas.’
The proposed legislation does not facilitate abortions on the grounds of disability, which cannot be detected at 12 weeks.
And the Taoiseach hit out at claims that the mental health provisions in the draft laws could be used as a way around this.
‘Women who want to end their pregnancies already do it. They either do it by going to the UK or importing pills online. What we’re trying to do is recognise that reality and allow, in particular cases, us to deal with those kind of crises in a compassionate way.’
Without repeal, he said, the country will be powerless to offer assistance in situations where ‘a girl is underage, 14, 15 years old and pregnant, where a woman is a victim of rape, a woman has conceived because of incest, perhaps raped by a family member, where there is a threat to her health, there is nothing we can do.’
Ahead of the vote on Friday, May 25, the latest opinion polls have shown the Yes side is ahead with a 12 point lead, with 44% of voters supporting repeal, compared to 32% against. However, the gap is narrowing, with Yes having enjoyed a 19 point lead in the last poll taken in April. A total of 17% remain undecided, while 7% either wouldn’t say or will not vote.
‘Abortion is a reality in Ireland’