MARY CARR
AS Health Minister Simon Harris stood up in the Dáil to finally present his Referendum Bill on the Eighth Amendment, the solemnity of the occasion was inescapable. Vowing that he could live not a minute longer under the current regime, the minister laid out the provisions of the Health Bill which may come into force if the referendum is passed, and which he believes will resolve the question of abortion rights for generations.
Our individual views on the rights of women and unborn children may clash profoundly, but we can all agree with the Minister on this: that the Pro-Life Amendment has caused the country at times to convulse into agonies of soul-searching and recrimination, turn situations of private grief into public tragedy, not to mention cause untold misery and uncertainty for women whose babies suffered foetal fatal abnormality, whose pregnancies were the result of rape, or whose health was too fragile to carry a baby to term.
Given what is at stake, it’s not hard to understand why the Minister bristles with the zealous conviction of a person who believes that reforming abortion law is part of his destiny.
What’s a little more perplexing though is why, just as he makes his dramatic pitch for reform, he heads off on a St Patrick’s Day jolly to Holland.
Why isn’t he staying put, to help steer the public debate on the airwaves and on television about this most significant issue, rather than wasting his time marvelling at windmills abroad? Abortion is the most divisive issue in Irish life, yet Simon Harris and Leo Varadkar’s behaviour suggests that it’s practically in the bag.
Indeed, the entire Cabinet’s exodus for St Patrick’s Day shows that its passion and fire about Repeal is also mingled with a large dose of complacency.
The Taoiseach embarks on a 10day whistlestop tour of North America, taking in Texas, Oklahoma, Washington and New York.
Regina Doherty is off to France, Katherine Zappone to Italy, while Helen McEntee is all set to travel to Slovenia. Will the battle to win hearts and minds on abortion rights be conducted by its leading proponents from abroad?
The political parties are fractured about unrestricted abortion rights up to 12 weeks, while Sinn Féin’s position seems precarious.
At its Ard Fheis in November the party’s 8th Amendment committee couldn’t fully support unrestricted access to abortion up to 12 weeks, even in cases of rape and incest, so it abstained on the motion.
The reservations of the political class are reflected in large swathes of the electorate who are open to abortion where there’s a danger to a woman’s life or health, in incidents of rape or fatal foetal abnormality, but who fear that the Minister’s proposals are a step too far.
The Government’s task is to convince the public of the necessity of the 12-week law in order to protect the hard cases.
One or two pro-life leaning members of the Dáil’s abortion committee shifted their view when they realised that it is impossible to selectively legislate for abortion for rape victims.
The widespread availability of abortion pills was another factor that swayed opinion.
Abortion rights are a grey area, but opinion is often black or white. The challenge for our leaders is to bring middle-ground opinion towards a more nuanced view, where the rights of women and the unborn are both acknowledged as far as possible, rather than left on a collision course, or cast in an either/or scenario.
But that calls for time and a climate of calm discussion, rather than the atmosphere of haste that seems to have taken over now that the Cabinet is off on its travels.
Simon Harris signalled his impatience to get on with it, remarking how the issue had been debated ‘ad nauseum’ in the Citizens’ Assembly and Dáil.
Perhaps, but it’s only now that the Bills have been aired that abortion will be debated where it counts, in homes and workplaces around Ireland. The Government gambled that the mood was right for resolving an issue that has bedevilled the country for more than 30 years. How ironic that just as the debate enters a critical phase, it appears to have neither the time nor interest for it.