TD: ‘Abortion to become contraception’

ABORTION will in future become the ‘contraception of choice’, a Fianna Fáil TD has told the Dáil.

Marc MacSharry – the pro-life son of former minister for finance Ray MacSharry – said he had changed his mind on the legislation and would now vote against it.

‘As things stand, I do not think I will be able to vote in favour of this legislation on second stage,’ he said, adding that his decision was ‘born out of fear’.

He said: ‘I fear that this will become the contraceptive of choice for people down the line; not today, next week or even next year, but in time. Abortion will become something that is the norm rather than for the hard cases. That is a concern for me.’

Mr MacSharry said he would not be obstructing the legislation, but added that his conscience would not ‘permit’ him to respect the referendum’s democratic outcome. His comments came a day after Waterford TD Mary Butler wept in the chamber as she vowed to support implementation of the people’s will, despite having campaigned in the referendum for retention of the Eighth Amendment.

Health Minister Simon Harris labelled Mr MacSharry’s comments ‘bizarre, offensive and ignorant’. He said: ‘To in any way equate termination with contraception shows a fundamental lack of respect for women, and a lack of knowledge of both termination and contraception. I think there’s an importance that we all use language that is respectful.’