No, it’s NOT possible to decriminalise abortion if we don’t say Yes –Leo
THE Taoiseach has rejected assertions that abortion could be decriminalised in Ireland without the referendum being passed on Friday.
Leo Varadkar said it is not possible to reduce the threat that women face of up to 14 years in jail unless Irish people chose to repeal Article 43.3.3 – the Eight Amendment – in the Constitution.
The Taoiseach made the comments after Fianna Fáil TD Éamon Ó Cuív said the laws could be changed to decriminalise women, even if citizens voted against changing the Constitution.
Voters will head to the polling booths on Friday to decide whether they want to remove the Eighth, which gives equal right to life to the unborn and to the mother, and allow parliament to liberalise the laws to permit terminations up to 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Under the current laws, women who procure an abortion can face up to 14 years in prison, but can travel abroad for one without sanction.
Mr Varadkar rejected Mr Ó Cuív’s claims yesterday, saying the Dáil had already tried to decriminalise abortion but that it was refused on constitutional grounds.
‘The Eighth Amendment is too hard and forces a very hard law on Irish people and Irish women,’ the Taoiseach told the Dáil.
He said the Eighth means the right to life of the unborn, of a foetus of a few days’ gestation, is equal to the life of the woman.
The Taoiseach added: ‘The State must vindicate that right – that is why such harsh and tough penalties are applied.’
Mr Varadkar also told the Dáil that the wording of the Eighth Amendment could not simply have been liberalised without removing it.
He said it was wrong of No campaigners to suggest an alternative wording to the Eighth Amendment with just days to go before voting. ‘Why, only three days from voting, are people suggesting that?’ the Taoiseach said, adding that it could be have been suggested at any time over the last 35 years that the Eighth Amendment has been in existence.
Mr Ó Cuív, who is advocating a No vote on Friday, told RTÉ News on Monday that changes could be made to remove the offence. The Fianna Fáil TD said he was not in f avour of the prosecution of women who terminate their pregnancies. ‘We can change the statute book in any way,’ he said, adding that nobody has ever been prosecuted for this offence.
Sinn Féin l eader Mary Lou McDonald, who is calling for a Yes vote, said the Eighth blocks any action by parliament to legislate for the so-called hard cases such as rape, incest and fatal foetal abnormalities.
‘We’ve tried,’ she said. ‘The only way we can help women in these circumstances is to return a Yes vote on Friday.’
She added that these were not exceptional cases, that they are real women facing devastating scenarios and circumstances every day. Mr Varadkar declined to take part in l ast night’s televised debate on the referendum or in any of the live TV debates, saying that it was not fitting with the office of Taoiseach.
‘Harsh and tough penalties’