LEADERS SILENT ON ABORTION LAW
As the first bruising comments are made amid preparations for the most bitterly divisive debate since the 1983 referendum...
THE three main political party leaders have declined to state where they stand on the new Oireachtas committee proposals to legalise abortion.
The silence from Leo Varadkar, Micheál Martin and Gerry Adams comes as seasoned political observers predict the country will now see the most bitterly divisive debate since the 1983 referendum banning abortion.
Their view comes after the Oireachtas committee on abortion yesterday voted to repeal the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution and to make unrestricted
abortion available for up to 12 weeks into pregnancy, as was revealed in yesterday’s Irish Daily Mail. Members also voted to recommend that abortion should be completely removed from the Constitution, and dealt with by legislation instead.
They also said that it should be made lawful in cases where the life or health of a woman is at risk, without drawing any distinction between her physical and mental health, and in cases of fatal foetal abnormality. But in these two cases they didn’t specify a time limit, indicating it may be longer than 12 weeks.
However, immediately after the 21 TDs and senators on the Committee voted, representatives of both sides were out in force to give their strong opinions, indicating the bruising nature of the debate that lays ahead for the country.
Former Master of Holles Street Hospital, Dr Peter Boylan said that ‘hypocrisy would be removed from the Constitution’, while Senator Rónán Mullen said he felt politicians were ‘losing sight of the humanity of unborn children’.
However, when the Irish Daily Mail asked the three main party leaders whether they supported unrestricted access to abortion up to 12 weeks, and if the limit should be longer in cases of fatal foetal abnormalities, they were non-committal. The Taoiseach said he would consider the report when published; a spokesman for Mr Martin said he would examine the conclusions of the committee; and a spokesman for Mr Adams said his views would be similar to those of Sinn Féin members on the committee.
The recommendations were broadly welcomed by medical professionals last night.
Former Master of Holles Street Hospital, Dr Peter Boylan said: ‘If we do [allow unrestricted abortions up to 12 week point] it puts us in line with all the rest of Europe.
‘It would mean Ireland would be similar to every other country in Europe in that women wouldn’t have to travel for terminations.
‘It would remove from the Constitution that women can travel for terminations – that hypocrisy would be removed from the Constitution.’
But David Quinn, the director of the Iona Institute, a Christian organisation, said that he did not agree with the decisions and that Irish people would only vote for a limited change on abortion.
‘Obviously, I’d be appalled because 90% of abortions take place in the first 12 weeks. Allowing for abortion for any reason in the first 12 weeks is almost entirely basing abortion on demand.
‘We can’t pretend it’s for life reasons, we can’t pretend it’s for health reasons any more, this is abortion for any reason whatsoever.
‘The question is whether the Irish people will vote in favour of something like that. I think Irish people would vote for a limited change on abortion, but I’m not sure they’d vote for that and I’m not sure they would vote for removing the right to life completely from the Constitution and leaving that completely up to the Oireachtas.’
Government sources also told the Mail that legislation based on the committee’s recommendations would not make it through the Dáil intact next year.
And members of the committee who supported the changes are concerned their decisions will come under attack in the Dáil.
The Government will publish legislation, expected in February, that ‘closely mirrors’ the recommendations, ahead of a referendum expected next May.
However senior Government sources say that legislation could be open to challenges or attempted amendments during the Dáil debates. TDs opposing the committee’s decision could even call an impromptu vote during the debate on the final report of the committee, which will be issued next Wednesday.
Fine Gael TD Kate O’Connell said that it was her personal view that publishing legislation at the same time as the wording for the abortion referendum could be problematic.
She said there could be difficulty ‘with regards to publishing legislation that would be the subject to an amendment through the Houses of the Oireachtas’.
Government sources said ministers would defend any legislation on the basis that it was the outcome of a democratic process both within the Citizens’ Assembly and within the Oireachtas committee. They would say that on that basis it could not be challenged.
The committee, which was chaired by Catherine Noone, also voted yesterday to decriminalise abortion for medical professionals in hospitals or licensed clinics when abortion pills are prescribed, and when the woman herself has procured or attempted to procure an abortion.
Some motions did not pass such as the suggestions that abortion be made lawful up to 22 weeks or that abortion be legal for reasons of poverty.
Pro-life members of the committee complained that the broad decisions effectively creates a situation where there is ‘abortion on demand’.
But the rulings by the committee were described as a ‘breakthrough for women’s health’ by the Women’s Council of Ireland.
The first question that TDs and senators voted on was on whether to repeal the Eighth without any replacement. This passed by 14 votes to six.
Labour TD Jan O’Sullivan told the committee she believed that it would be ‘confusing and unnecessary’ to make suggestions as to what might replace the Eighth Amendment, saying repealing it simply would be the least difficult option.
She said to propose a replacement ‘would bring us back to the inappropriate dealing of this issue via the Constitution’.
Kate O’Connell tabled a motion which would make abortion legal for women whose life or health is at risk, and this passed by 14 to six as well. When members decided to make abortion available unrestricted up to 12 weeks, many such
‘Hypocrisy will be removed’ ‘Losing sight of unborn’s humanity’
as Fianna Fáil’s Lisa Chambers cited the growing use of abortion pills as a reason behind their decision.
However, Senator Mullen described this as a ‘very distressing proposal’ which was ‘abortion on demand’, adding that he felt politicians were ‘losing sight of the humanity of unborn children.’ The motion was passed by 12 of the 21 committee members.
The three Sinn Féin members abstained on the measure as it goes beyond their party’s position. However, they stated they would consider it further after publication of the report by the Oireachtas committee. Motions on decriminalisation, the provision of free contraception and the promotion of sex education all passed as well.
Meanwhile a spokesman for the Taoiseach said last night that he would consider the report when it was published and would not be commenting before then.
However Mr Varadkar told the Fine Gael parliamentary party meeting last night that he would address the issue at a special party meeting on January 15.
THOSE of a certain age will remember how divisive the 1983 referendum on the right to life of the unborn became. Friends fell out and family members were estranged as modern Ireland dealt via popular vote with its first real issue of moral complexity.
That referendum resulted in the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution, and it gave an equal right to life to the unborn, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, a wording that has been argued over ever since.
Yesterday, pursuant to the vote by the Citizens’ Assembly to once again put the issue to the people, an Oireachtas Committee voted for a referendum to remove the amendment, and to allow abortion for any reason up to 12 weeks, or at a later stage when a fatal foetal abnormality is detected.
Those on what has been called the pro-life side believe that abortion is the loss of a life, while those on what has been called the pro-choice side believe that a woman, or girl, has a right to make her own decision on whether or not to take a pregnancy to term.
What the people now must decide is whether the amendment should remain or be removed. It is that simple, and the majority view, either way, will hold sway.
We saw in the marriage equality referendum a broad acceptance that society has changed, but there was a lack of civility in the debate, with needless hurt caused to those on both sides whose views deserved to be heard, even if they were diametrically opposite.
The referendum on abortion has the potential to be even more charged. It is fundamentally an emotional issue, and when emotion is involved, tempers can flare and hurtful things can be said.
The beauty of our democracy is that we, the people, get to decide. There is no way to ever get 100% agreement on anything, but hopefully we all can agree on at least this much: That the debate be courteous. That every assertion can be backed with factual information, and not scaremongering. And that we all remember, at the end of the day, the women who have had abortions and those contemplating them. They are our mothers, our sisters, our daughters, our friends. They deserve better than to be vilified for making difficult choices, or dismissed if that choice led to a lifetime of regret.