John Halligan (Waterford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I remind the House that the Government's response to the tragic case of Savita Halappanavar, the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013, has actually created a situation in which medical conditions due to pregnancy which are not in themselves life-threatening must become life-threatening before it is legal to terminate a pregnancy. This Bill was meant to bring an end to the long failure to legislate for the existing constitutional provision, yet its silence on the gestational stage at which an abortion may take place to save the life of a mother speaks volumes, and these restrictions clearly bear heaviest on the most vulnerable.

As has been said, we were confronted earlier in the year with the horrific case of a vulnerable and suicidal young rape victim who was denied a timely abortion and ended up having to have a caesarean section to deliver her baby prematurely. Despite repeated promises of compassion on the part of the Government, pregnant women in cases of fatal foetal abnormality must still take the unenviable and terrible trip to the UK if they want to terminate their pregnancy.

I do not know if the Minister is aware that the UN has repeatedly criticised Ireland's highly restrictive stance on abortion. It runs contrary to the UN human rights treaties to which we have signed up, including the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. The Minister is also being criticised by Europe on this restrictive stance on abortion. The situation that prevails in this country is inhumane and proves that the long arm of the Catholic Church still reaches into the main political parties in the Dáil.

Approximately a year ago a number of women visited me here, one of whom had been violently raped, and I asked a question on Leaders' Questions on the subject of fatal foetal abnormalities. As I am sure the Minister would accept, rape is a violation of a woman's human rights. It is a violation of her dignity, which always has a catastrophic effect on a woman for the rest of her life. I am not too sure of the statistics and I am open to correction, but I think that last year nine women who were raped had to travel outside this country for an abortion.

I do not want to personalise this, but I ask the Minister, his Government and everybody in the House, if they were confronted by a situation in which their wife, daughter or mother had been physically abused and raped, would they insist on their wife, daughter or mother going through with her pregnancy if she was unable to do so and wanted an abortion? It is inhumane and cruel, and I do not believe there is any man in this House who, if his loved one told him she wanted an abortion as she did not want to carry a pregnancy all the way through for nine months because she had been raped, would advise her to carry it for the full nine months and have the child. I accept that some women might choose to do that, but most do not.

The hypocrisy on this matter causes a stench in this House. I have spoken to people in this House and been told I was right on the question of fatal foetal abnormalities, yet here we are in 2015 and we are still telling vulnerable, devastated women who have been raped or have pregnancies involving fatal foetal abnormalities that they can have an abortion but not in Ireland.

The Minister said he has stated in the House several times that this matter should be dealt with in the Thirty-second Dáil when parties have a fresh mandate for their policies from the people. There is widespread anecdotal evidence that the new legislation does not even scratch the surface of establishing women's rights in Ireland. According to an opinion poll conducted by The Irish TimesIpsos MRBI, 75% of people are in favour of legislation for the Supreme Court X judgment. The poll also showed a substantial majority of voters backs wider access to abortion than was proposed in the legislation. Up to 83% of respondents said abortion should be permitted in cases where the foetus is not capable of surviving outside the womb, while 81% said abortion should be allowed in cases of pregnancy resulting from rape or abuse. Some 78% were in favour of cases were a woman's health was at risk.

What more of a mandate does the Minister want? He speaks about the need for a public debate. Over the past three years, legislation dealing with fatal foetal abnormalities, pregnancy from rape and abortion on demand has been brought into this Chamber on several occasions by many Members, including Deputy Clare Daly and Deputy Ruth Coppinger. All the indications are that there is public support, particularly in cases for women with fatal foetal abnormalities and women who have been raped. It is fundamentally wrong, incorrect, insensitive and appalling to think that we are afraid of introducing legislation to cover this.

What is the Minister afraid of? If he is not afraid of the general public, the people who elect us and ultimately make the decision as to what they want, then it must be the church. It must be the case if all the opinion polls show the public is in support of introducing legislation. Are there four or five Fine Gael Members who are anti-abortion anyway and will do everything to stifle debate to ensure abortion will not legislated for in cases of fatal foetal abnormality or for women who have been raped? The Minister, as well the former Minister for Health, has not explained this. What is prohibiting them from bringing forward legislation when the opinion polls show these details? Why does it have to go into the next Dáil? Why can it not be introduced in this Dáil, if Members of Fine Gael, the Labour Party, Fianna Fáil and Sinn Féin believe in their hearts and souls that there are times when women should have an abortion? I do not agree with the Minister’s argument that this matter should go to the Thirty-second Dáil.

Most of the Dáil is made up of men who will never need an abortion. We do not know what it is like. Men can be raped but not to the extent that women can be. We do not have to deal with the physicality of fatal foetal abnormality. Most men in this Dáil, accordingly, are out of touch with how women feel when they are violated. That is shameful on all of us. The Government has had two occasions, through Bills introduced by Deputy Clare Daly and with this legislation, to deal with this issue. This does not have to go to the Thirty-second Dáil. The general public is demanding in opinion poll after opinion poll that in certain instances abortion should be made available.

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