Government is deceiving people
I’VE been meeting many people who are still ‘undecided’ and as referendum day drew nearer it seemed some were growing more uncertain and even talking about not voting. Most in this category are men. It’s important as citizens that we all feel included in this referendum. We live in a society made up of women, men and children and we require a societal response to this important life issue.
Some clarification on the meaning of a Yes and No vote may be useful in your decision-making.
Voting Yes means removing all constitutional protection from every unborn child up to birth, leaving them with no rights at all under the Constitution. A recent Supreme Court decision makes this very clear. A Yes vote also means allowing the Oireachtas to bring in the proposed abortion legislation or any future legislation as it sees fit. The current proposal includes abortion for any reason up to 12 weeks, and up to viability – six months – on mental health grounds.
Regarding those health grounds, a statement signed by a group of lawyers, including two former High Court judges, notes that the bill allows abortion up to six months “for reasons so similar to the legislation in Great Britain that there is no rational basis for thinking that they would operate differently”. This would mean abortion effectively on request up to six months, as in Britain.
Finally, even the six-month limit could be removed in the future, without the people’s consent. It is only if you wish constitutional protection to be taken away in all cases up to birth that a Yes vote would correctly reflect your wish.
A No vote in the referendum means maintaining the right to life in our Constitution. Some people are voting No because they want to keep the Eighth Amendment as it stands; others who want some change are voting No because the Government’s proposal is too extreme and not just focused on the difficult cases. As one young mother said to me, “send it back to the Government and let them tighten it up”, indicating that they should rethink the proposal.
Because of the scope of the proposal we are voting on, the issue is not whether abortion should be available for difficult cases (such as rape or life-limiting conditions), but whether it should be available in all cases. There is a perception that victims of rape have no option but to continue their pregnancy. However, the ‘morning-after pill’ is legally available in pharmacies in Ireland and at sexual assault units and rape crisis centres. Pregnancy as a result of rape is incredibly difficult, yet testimonies reveal that sometimes abortion can add more trauma to an already painful situation. Miss C found her abortion “harder to deal with than the rape” (Irish Independent, May 5, 2013).
Another young woman who was raped and taken from Northern Ireland to Britain for an abortion said in the ‘Belfast Telegraph’: “If a woman finds herself pregnant as a result of rape, she really needs to have some care. She needs compassion, she needs counselling, and she needs a great deal of support. She doesn’t need another act of violence in abortion.”
FOR parents who have experienced the pain of a diagnosis of a life-limiting condition for their child, words are inadequate. The moving testimonials of women who have been through such situations are more than worth reading (see www.everylifecounts.ie). These parents found consolation from the short time they had with their children. Vicky Wall, mother of baby Líadán who had trisomy 18, said: “We are being asked to sanction every future abortion in Ireland on the basis of my pain, and the pain of women like me... [The Yes campaign] want the public to feel our sorrow… and to turn their sympathy into a licence to kill.”
The Government is deceiving people about how extreme its proposal is. It could have proposed a constitutional amendment for these difficult cases without repealing the right to life. Likewise, the 14-year criminal sanction is not required by the Eighth – that provision can be changed without any referendum, as I proposed in 2013.
Some women find themselves pregnant in circumstances where they feel unable to raise a child. In cases like these, adoption presents a real, compassionate solution. Unlike in the past, now contact between a birth mother and her child can be maintained if she wishes. The birth mothers I’ve spoken with when collecting the stories in www. myadoptionstory.ie took great comfort from giving life to their child and keeping the door open to a future for both. As an adoptive mother myself, I know this to be true.
In Irish law at present, doctors can always do what is necessary to save the mother, even if that causes the loss of the baby. Official inquiries into the death of Savita Halappanavar confirmed she died from sepsis, which was mismanaged in hospital. There was a catalogue of errors in her care and her medical team did not realise her life was in danger. Her tragic case continues to be manipulated to frighten people into repealing the Eighth. Notably, five ex-chairmen of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists recently wrote a letter (‘Irish Times’, May 2018) saying: “we have been horrified at some of the statements made by colleagues during this referendum campaign...The Eighth Amendment does not prevent Irish women receiving care of the highest possible standard. Recent Maternal Death Enquiry reports confirm that Ireland is one of the safest places in the world to be pregnant...”
Choice has always been important in my life. But I draw the line when it comes to taking the life of another. Doesn’t everyone deserve the right to life? Do we want to use our vote today to take away the only shield standing between an unborn child and an abortion doctor who intends to end her or his life? Or do we want to use our vote to reject an extremely wide-ranging abortion proposal and ensure that both mothers and babies continue to be protected?
The preborn boy or girl gets no vote. Your No vote is the only protection the unborn child has left. There will be no second chances to get this right if we vote Yes. The issue will be removed forever from the people’s hands.