Irish vote adds fuel to abortion reform push
An abortion law reform advocate says New Zealand politicians should be ‘‘embarrassed’’ by how slowly they have acted on the issue compared to Ireland.
Terry Bellamak, president of Abortion Law Reform New Zealand (ALRANZ), was lost for words trying to express her feelings about Irish citizens backing change by two to one in a referendum at the weekend.
The vote means the Irish Government will legislate by the end of the year to make it relatively easy for a woman to obtain the procedure in early pregnancy. Previously, Ireland had restrictive abortion laws.
That means the deeply Catholic conservative nation will be more liberal than New Zealand when it comes to abortion laws.
The coalition Government has asked our Law Commission to consider changes, including removing abortion from the Crimes Act and making it a health issue. But as it stands, termination is still a crime here except in a few scenarios.
Justice Minister Andrew Little said the commission was due to report back to him by the end of the year and, providing the Government could agree on the recommendations, it was possible there could be legislation before Parliament next year.
While Bellamak said this was good news, the difference between Ireland and New Zealand was that Ireland went ‘‘straight to the people’’, while here it would be a conscience vote in Parliament.
‘‘I think it’s embarrassing, it’s embarrassing for the New Zealand Government and successive ones since 1977. None of them have really done much to improve the situation.’’
But Right To Life, a group staunchly opposed to abortion law reform, has previously said that moves to legalise or decriminalise it would be met with ‘‘fierce opposition’’.
In response to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern calling for abortion to be taken out of the Crimes Act last year, spokesman Ken Orr said: ‘‘She wrongly believes that the killing of our unborn children should not be a crime and that this killing should be a core health service.’’
Little admitted that Ireland would be ahead of New Zealand on abortion law reform if it implemented the changes indicated by the end of the year.
‘‘The Irish referendum, if it shows anything that relevant to us, it’s that attitudes are changing and people aren’t tied down by more moralistic consideration of this issue,’’ he said. ‘‘They want something that reflects more 21stcentury values.’’
Bellamak was ‘‘optimistic’’ about the Law Commission recommendations for abortion reform. ‘‘I’ve read some of the submissions that have come to the Law Commission, and they’re very progressive.’’
She wants to see New Zealand follow in the footsteps of countries like Canada, which has no abortion laws or regulations around abortion.
‘‘Attitudes are changing and people aren’t tied down by more moralistic consideration of this issue.’’ Justice Minister Andrew Little
Ireland’s prime minister hailed as a ‘‘quiet revolution’’ the vote that delivered an overwhelming verdict in favour of repealing strict abortion laws and marked a drift away from the country’s conservative Catholic roots.
More than 67 per cent voted in favour of reform in a landslide victory for the pro-choice Yes campaign.
Crowds applauded, embraced and wept in the yard of Dublin Castle, where the result was announced yesterday after a day of counting the votes.
A few yards down the road, at City Hall, a group of Yes voters broke into spontaneous singing, cheered on by passersby.
Saying that Ireland had finally ‘‘come of age’’, Leo Varadkar, the Taoiseach (Prime Minister), said: ‘‘The people have said we want a modern constitution for a modern country, and that we trust women to make the right decisions about their own healthcare.’’
The support for repealing Ireland’s eighth amendment, which only allows abortion if the mother’s life is at risk, was higher than even the most optimistic of projections in the early stages of the referendum.
It pointed to a seismic shift in social attitudes in a country once synonymous with dogmatic religious conservatism.
The vote on Saturday followed a landmark one on gay marriage and the election of a gay Taoiseach in Varadkar in the last three years.
‘‘We voted to look reality in the eye and we did not blink,’’ said Varadkar.
Orla O’Connor, head of the pro-choice Yes campaign, described the result as a ‘‘resounding roar for the Irish people’’.
He said: ‘‘We will be forever indebted to those women and couples whose own bravery and dignity have moved hearts, changed minds and changed the country,’’ she said.
Repealing the eighth amendment will end a regime that banned abortion even in cases of rape or fatal foetal abnormalities. Thousands of women found themselves compelled to travel to England for terminations.
The outcome has also blurred the lines along which Ireland has been traditionally divided. Farmers, for example, came out enthusiastically for the prochoice Yes campaign, as did a group called Grandfathers Say Yes, whose daughters and wives were unable to have safe terminations at home due to the eighth amendment.
‘‘I am absolutely over the moon,’’ said 25-year-old Yes voter Erica Lee.
‘‘The vote for Yes is so much higher than we anticipated. There was talk of a divide between the Dublin bubble and rural areas that could tilt things toward No but that has turned out not to be the case, to our relief.’’
She added the ‘‘patronising, nasty tone’’ of the No campaign, backed by the Catholic church, had brought large numbers of voters into the Yes camp.
‘‘We voted to look reality in the eye and we did not blink.’’ Leo Varadkar, Taoiseach