‘Woman told to go to UK for abortion’
Foetal abnormality ‘not ground for termination’
‘Ireland will do nothing for me’
A PREGNANT woman was ‘treated like a leper’ after her unborn baby was diagnosed with a foetal abnormality – and was given a list of hospitals in England where she could get an abortion, the Dáil heard.
The woman, named as ‘Mary,’ was over the limit of 12 weeks for a termination here yet her foetus was given only a 15% chance of being delivered alive and ‘might live an hour or so’.
Solidarity TD Ruth Coppinger said there were now worrying signs that the very women ‘whose stories resonated throughout the country’ are still being forced abroad. ‘A number of women have contacted my office and three of them have had to go to England for terminations for medical reasons,’ she said.
The latest case involved a woman – ‘Mary’ – who had a scan in Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinal-soe, to be told of anomalies in her pregnancy and that her foetus had possible Edward’s syndrome, a condition which arises because of an extra chromosome being present.
‘She was told there was only 15% chance of delivery and the baby might live an hour or so. The doctor then said that nothing could be done as she was over 12 weeks,’ Ms Coppinger declared.
‘Mary was handed the names of three hospitals in England. She also said a staff member had treated her like a leper after this point.’
The woman rang the HSE and was directed to University Hospital Galway where, despite a GP arranging for a scan, she was told by a doctor on arrival that there was no one there to see her and that she would not get to the second trimester.
‘At that stage, she and her husband had had enough,’ Ms Coppinger said. They walked out and within hours had made an appointment to travel to England. Mary told her: ‘Ireland will do nothing for me.’ Ms Coppinger said women who were contacting her had one thing in common. They had voted last May without knowing they were going to face a difficult situation, ‘but thinking they would be cared for if they did’.
She asked the Taoiseach: ‘Why is a distinction made between fatal and severe abnormalities which is not made in other countries?’
The Taoiseach said the difference between fatal and severe abnormalities was discussed in the Oireachtas, ‘which is why she should know the answer to her own question.
‘We decided that disability would not be grounds for the termination of a pregnancy but that fatal abnormalities would be. A severe abnormality is very often a disability.’
He added: ‘That’s a decision we made as a House, to make that distinction.’ He said he did not want to comment on individual cases. Ms Coppinger said politicians had ‘chickened out’ on what the Citizens’ Assembly recommended, which was that severe foetal abnormalities be considered as well. ‘Those women are paying the price now,’ she added.
The Taoiseach said the vote, while overwhelming, was to make abortion legal in Ireland in certain circumstances.
‘We did not chicken out… we made a decision in this Oireachtas that disability and severe disability should not be grounds for terminating a pregnancy. We decided that a woman was free to choose to end her pregnancy for any reason, or none, up to 12 weeks – but after that it would have to be because of a risk to her health, a risk to her life or a diagnosis of fatal foetal abnormality.’
He added: ‘I believe abortion is very much a private and personal matter. I do not believe any woman decides or chooses to end her pregnancy lightly.’
Ms Coppinger argued: ‘People should be able to make these decisions freely without barrier or obstruction.
‘In the last 24 hours, we have heard that women may face intimidation from anti-choice zealots in hospitals, clinics and car parks.
‘We are also hearing of women struggling to get access and who are left outside of the law,’ she said, claiming that ‘conservative Catholic control of hospitals and a very narrow law’ was having a chilling effect. ‘It was forcing women to travel abroad.’
The Taoiseach commented that no woman seeking an abortion ‘and no doctor, midwife, nurse or anyone else involved in providing it’, should be subject to intimidation in any way.