Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The claim by people with anti-choice, anti-abortion views and the Catholic Church that this legislation will open the floodgates to widespread abortion is a total misrepresentation. There is abortion in this country every day of the year, but it does not happen in the territory of the State. One can obtain information, access the right to travel outside the State and counselling, but the abortion does not happen here. The groups mentioned must realise that is the reality. It is a reality 83% of the population in continuous polls have recognised. It is their daughters, sisters and mothers who are the ones who deal with this issue every day of the week. It is no longer the case, as it was 30 or 40 years, that it cannot be talked about. A woman who was pregnant could not walk the streets as it would bring shame on her family. However, times have changed; things have moved on and there is abortion. It should be recognised that we have the same abortion rates as Croatia where it is lawful in several circumstances to save a woman's life, preserve her physical and mental health, in cases of rape or incest, owing to foetal impairment, economic or social reasons and on request. Austria which allows abortion in the same circumstances has a very low rate of 1.4%.

No one who supports this or further legislation is arguing that abortion is right in every case. For those who want to bring a child into the world, it is a beautiful occasion. It is to be cherished by the community and the State by providing the services children need, no matter what class or economic background they come from. All children should be respected equally. However, they are not.

The Government is introducing legislation to deal with what is known as the X case. We know the circumstances of the case. A young woman found herself suicidal having been prevented from travelling to Britain. What came across in the debates last year was that while there was no consensus in the psychiatric fraternity on the circumstances in which a woman could find herself suicidal and kill herself, if a woman did commit suicide on the basis of being prevented from travelling for an abortion, that would be one too many. Psychiatric nurses and doctors must stand over every decision they make in these circumstances.

In relation to suicide, under the legislation there is a requirement for two psychiatrists, an obstetrician and a referral to a general practitioner, which is onerous and the provision should be removed. Only one psychiatrist should be necessary to make a decision. The 14 year chilling legislation which has been raised with the European Court of Human Rights remains in place. It is horrendous that a young woman who finds herself in the situation which has happened every day in recent decades where she has been raped or abused and accesses the pill which can only be used in the first nine weeks of pregnancy to induce an abortion could be reported to the State and find herself in front of the courts facing 14 years in jail if she attends hospital on foot of complications. This legislation should be repealed. There should be no criminal sanction for a woman. It is a different matter in the case of back-street abortions or people acting outside the medical profession. The chilling legislation is still in place and the Government could have used the opportunity to deal with it in the Bill. Again, it has bent to the anti-choice and church lobbyists.

The referral pathway is an important issue. When a woman is referred to a hospital, who is in charge of following right through? It must be either the doctor who refers her or someone else to ensure there is a clear pathway and documentation on the care she has received for her life-threatening pregnancy in accordance with the Bill.

Provision is made in relation to hospitals and the Minister can look at the position after one year. In the bigger hospitals in Dublin one may find that more patients have been seen in relation to the issues covered in the legislation.

If there are eight women in Holles Street who had abortions in life-threatening situations, a doctor may ask whether the hospital or the doctor will be under scrutiny if he or she performs a ninth and whether the right could be taken from the hospital to provide a service to women who desperately need medical treatment.

The Bill does not deal with fatal foetal abnormality, which is a wasted opportunity by the Government. To my mind, the Bill will be challenged if passed in this form. This is an opportunity for the Government to prepare legislation which includes provisions on fatal foetal abnormality and see if the Supreme Court will defend them under the Constitution. In the European Court of Human Rights case involving Deirdre Conroy, the Government specifically said she would win her case to have an abortion in Ireland if she took the case to the Supreme Court. When facing fatal foetal abnormalities the last thing women will think of is going to the High Court or Supreme Court to seek recognition of the fact that they must travel abroad to terminate their pregnancies. A woman has a right to carry a pregnancy right to the end. It is the right of the family to support her, but it is also the right of the woman to make a choice not to carry a foetus with a fatal abnormality to full term. That service should be in place. Article 40.3.3° of the Constitution could allow for that, and we have tabled an amendment on that point. The Government should accept the amendment. If there is a court challenge in respect of the Bill, it can be examined within that context. The High Court or Supreme Court judges can examine the area having due regard to equating the right of the foetus that will die immediately after birth with the life of the mother who is being forced to carry the foetus. We will table amendments.

The Labour Party has made enormous concessions to Fine Gael and the anti-abortion lobby. Deputy Clare Daly and I introduced legislation last year and the Labour Party Deputies said they would not support it because it did not go far enough. Now, they are supporting a more restrictive Bill in respect of suicide. These are questions for the Labour Party to answer for its supporters.

We will table amendments in respect of the chilling 14-year jail sentence. I refer to people who rape women. In a recent case, two men were sentenced to ten years for the unspeakable gang rape of a young woman in Cork. A young woman who finds herself in a desperate situation could face 14 years in jail. We are introducing legislation in full knowledge of that point. We must take this point into consideration, tease it out and work through whether such a sentence should be included. It should not be. We will table amendments and we will fight for them, particularly in respect of fatal foetal abnormality. The Government has an opportunity to deal with this and should put it into legislation. If it is challenged, at least it can be challenged under Article 40.3.3° of the Constitution.

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