People have a right to know

■ Whichever way people voted in the referendum, looking forward they have a right to clarity about the Government’s proposed abortion bill.

To promote clarity, it may be helpful to revisit two statements reportedly made during the campaign.

The first was the Taoiseach’s claim that disability is not a ground for abortion under the bill. The bill would, however, permit the abortion of a disabled child in a wide range of circumstances.

Eugenic abortion would be permitted:

1. On request until the 12th week;

2. Between the 12th week and the 24th week (viability) when the prospect of giving birth to a disabled child created a risk (however slight) of serious harm to the woman’s mental health. It would also allow the abortion of a disabled child until birth in certain circumstances.

The second statement was Health Minister Simon Harris’s rejection (as “a big lie”) of the claim that the bill would legalise abortion until the sixth month. It would, however, do precisely that.

That the bill would not legalise abortion on request between the 12th and 24th week does not mean it would not legalise abortion during that period.

The British Abortion Act 1967 does not (in terms) permit abortion on request at any point until the 24th week, yet to deny it legalised abortion would be seriously mistaken.

Professor John Keown DCL

Kennedy Institute of Ethics, Georgetown University, Washington DC, USA