ABORTION LAW IN IRELAND

Irish Pro-Life Group Calls for Yes Vote on Abortion Proposal

[Pro-Life Infonet Note:  The following is a statement by Dr. Berry Kiely detailing the Ireland Pro-Life Campaigns official reaction to the Twenty-fifth Amendment of the Constitution (Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy) Bill, 2001 in Buswells Hotel, Monday 17th December 2001.]

Dublin, Ireland -- The Pro-Life Campaign welcomes the Governments Referendum Proposal on abortion which passed all stages in the Oireachtas last Thursday. It is fitting to speak at this stage after all amendments have been considered and the proposal has reached its final form. We consider it worthy of support and will actively campaign for its passage.

As the Catholic Episcopal Conference stated, the proposal is a significant improvement on the current unsatisfactory situation. It overturns the 1992 Supreme Court decision, prohibits abortion, drawing a clear distinction between deliberate abortion targeting the life of the baby and treatment necessary to save the mothers life, where everything possible is done to preserve the life of the unborn child.

This is the first time anywhere in the world where such clear distinctions have been made in law. In deciding how to shape public policy on this sensitive matter we have a responsibility to be guided by the medical experts in the area. The proposal, therefore, rightly recognises that abortion is not an appropriate response to suicidal feelings. At the recent Oireachtas hearings on abortion, the psychiatric evidence showed that abortion itself appears to be a significant risk factor for suicide. It is important in the context of this debate to note that Ireland is among the safest countries in the world in which to be pregnant.

As the Green Paper on Abortion recognised, our success in this area is so good that it can hardly be improved upon. The great merit of the proposed amendment is that it gives legal certainty and protection to good medical practice. Every society has to confront the reality of unexpected pregnancy. A clear law on the right to life of the unborn child is an indispensable first step to framing social policies to help reduce our abortion rate. The alternative is to introduce abortion in vague and ill-defined terms which would eventually lead to abortion on demand.

The tragic reality of abortion laws in other jurisdictions, where abortion is legal, is that babies who are wanted are given the best medical care, while in the same hospitals, babies of the same age, who are not wanted, are aborted. The abortion issue has been debated in this country for over twenty years.

The current referendum proposal is the result of the most exhaustive examination ever undertaken on the issue. The Government, to its credit, has recognised its responsibility to bring forward a workable proposal to address the issue. The official Labour Party policy on abortion, if implemented, would allow for abortion on demand. This is an inexcusable position for any Party claiming to champion human rights: the unborn child has the right to life which would clearly be violated by abortion on demand. In recent weeks some concerns have been heard about the fact that the proposed referendum does not explicitly address the area of human embryo experimentation. A close reading of the measure makes it clear that the concerns are based on a misunderstanding.

The Constitutional Amendment leaves Article 40.3.3 intact and adds to it only in the specific context of abortion. This is plain from the use of the words "In particular" as an introduction to the articulation of the new provision. The proposal defines abortion for the purposes of the criminal law but does not redefine when human life begins. It does not subtract from any existing protections enjoyed by the human embryo prior to implantation and ensures that the Dil has power to enact legislation to protect unborn life from embryo experimentation.

There is urgent need for such legislation, as the Catholic Bishops have stressed. The Pro-Life Campaign has made a submission to this effect to the Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction which is examining the subject with a view to making legislative proposals. Last year over six thousand Irish women went to Britain for abortions. This is a tragedy for the women and children involved. We need to urgently address this problem.

There is considerable evidence to show that when the conditions which pressurise women towards abortion are addressed, the rate can be slowed down and even reversed. The Pro-Life Campaign welcomes the establishment of the new Crisis Pregnancy Agency. Among the several strategies it may favour, we hope that they will include the provision of increased support for registered agencies offering positive alternatives to abortion, the promotion of contemporary models of open adoption, the putting in place of adequate respite care facilities to meet the needs of families with multiple special needs and the provision of resources to assist women hurt by abortion.

To date there has been very little public debate on the actual contents of the proposal. In the coming weeks, however, we are confident that the proposed Amendment will receive widespread popular support as people recognise that it presents a unique opportunity to resolve the issue at a Constitutional, legal, medical and social level, following the most comprehensive consultations ever undertaken on the subject anywhere in the world.

The Pro-Life Campaign will work enthusiastically in support of the proposal and look forward to its approval by the People. We will also play our part in the coming weeks to ensure there is a calm and informed debate and that the effort to clarify the legal situation is matched by a determined effort to put in place the necessary resources to create a more welcoming society for expectant mothers and their unborn children. -- You can help women make positive, life-affirming choices when confronting an unexpected pregnancy.

Please provide a link on your web site to Pregnancy Centers Online at http://www.pregnancycenters.org