Abortion Referendum (1 Viewer)

[pete]

From http://www.rte.ie/news/2001/1002/abortion.html :

A new referendum on abortion is to be held before the next election, the Taoiseach announced this afternoon. The Government has published the text of a proposed Constitutional amendment, and accompanying legislation, which would outlaw abortion.

However, doctors would be allowed to provide medical procedures required to protect the lives of mothers. The threat of suicide would no longer be a ground for legal abortion in the State, but the right to travel and to information about abortions in other countries will be retained.

The Government is proposing a combination of legislative and Constitutional change, as well as a new agency to address crisis pregnancies, which it hopes will cut down on the estimated eighteen Irish women who have abortions in Britain every single day of the year.

The proposed legislation would allow doctors to provide any medical treatment they deem necessary to safeguard the life of a pregnant woman, even if this treatment results in the ending of an unborn human life. However, the threat of suicide will be ruled out as a grounds for legal abortion in this country, reversing the Supreme Court judgement in the X case.

The right to information about services legally available in another country, and the right to travel to avail of those services, would not be affected. If passed, the amendment to the Constitution would protect this legislation from change without a further referendum.

The Taoiseach said that he hopes to have the Bill through the Dáil before Christmas, while the Referendum will be held in the spring at the latest.

Speaking on behalf of the Progressive Democrats, Junior Minister Liz O'Donnell said that while many would see this as a relatively conservative proposal, it could allow a broad consensus to develop.

However, Opposition reaction has been mixed. Labour leader Ruairí Quinn has said the Government's proposed abortion referendum will inevitably be divisive and emotive. He said that the sole effect of the Bill will be to dilute the constitutional right to life of pregnant women by limiting the grounds on which they can avail of medical procedures in Ireland.

Mr Quinn said that the proposal mirrored the referendum already defeated in 1992, and Labour will oppose it in the Dáil and call for a No vote if it is put to the people. However, the party welcomed the Government's decision to establish an agency to deal with crisis pregnancies.

Fine Gael is to take legal advice on the Government's proposals before the parliamentary party meets to consider the issue. In the meantime, Gay Mitchell said, he would be calling on the Government to accept Fine Gael's own Bill proposing the establishment of a Care of Persons Board to comprehensively support women in crisis pregnancies.

The Pro-Life Campaign said that the Government's proposals presented a unique opportunity to restore clarity into the law regarding the right to life of the unborn.

Meanwhile, the Irish Family Planning Association welcomed what they called the tone of the Government's proposals. They said that the proposals reflected their view that there was no simple legislative or constitutional solution to the problem of abortion.

The Medical Council said that they welcomed the Government's commitment to support for women in crisis pregnancies.

 

[pete]

From http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2001/1002/breaking47.htm :

A new referendum on abortion could take place before Christmas, the Taoiseach Mr Ahern said, following the Government’s publication of a proposed amendment to the constitution today.

The objective of the 25th amendment, entitled Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy, is to resolve the unsatisfactory legal situation regarding abortion that has existed since the X Case judgment in 1992, the Taoiseach said.

The vote on the amendment, which the Taoiseach said may take place this year but is more likely to take place next spring, creates a basis for the legislative protection of human life in pregnancy, he said.

The Government intends to ensure the protection of the unborn human life while at the same time ensuring a pregnant woman will receive any necessary medical treatment to protect her life.

"The overall thrust of the Government’s proposal is in line with the third option outlined in the report of the all-party committee chaired by Brian Lenihan TD," Mr Ahern said.

"I want to stress that, for the first time, the new law will protect both women and the unborn in pregnancy and will accommodate existing medical practice which safeguards the life of the woman from exposure to real and substantial risk," he said.

"The new law will give complete protection to medical procedures necessary to avoid those risks.

"In a small number of cases, a strict and undeniable medical necessity, those procedures can entail or result in the ending of the life of the unborn. The new law defines abortion in a way that clearly excludes such ethically legitimate procedures from being termed an abortion," Mr Ahern said.

If approved by the people, the new provisions would be inserted into the constitution as Article 40.3.4 and 40.3.5.

The proposed amendment is a response to the legalisation of abortion in particular circumstances by the Supreme Court.

Proposed new legislation would legalise the use of the morning-after pill and intrauterine devices (IUDs). Plans for a statutory agency to combat crisis pregnancy were also announced by the Goverment.

The Crisis Pregnancy Agency would draw up a national strategy to address crisis pregnancy, promote options other than abortion where a crisis pregnancy occurs and provide post-abortion services. It would be under the direct control of the Department of Health.

 

[pete]

From http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2001/1002/breaking61.htm :

The Labour Party and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has come strongly against the Government’s proposed constitutional amendment on abortion.

In a statement this afternoon, the party's leader Mr Ruairi Quinn said the proposals are an attempt to overturn the Supreme Court ruling in the X case that allows for abortion when the woman’s life is under threat.

"The sole effect of this Bill is to dilute the constitutional right to life of pregnant women by limiting the grounds on which they can avail of medical procedures in Ireland," he said.

"The Labour Party supports the Government decision to establish an agency, in line with the recommendations of the All Party Committee to work with women with crisis pregnancies. But that is a separate and distinct matter from the holding of a further referendum," he added.

In a statement this evening, the ICCL described the amendment as the 1992 referendum revisited. "This is a regressive proposal in an area where progress is required. If accepted, girls and women who are pregnant and suicidal as a result of rape (like the two girls at the centre of the X and C cases) would be denied the right to terminate their pregnancies.

No amount of abortion amendments will prevent 6,500 Irish women per annum from obtaining abortion services elsewhere.