Terry Leyden (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

To thine own self be true in this regard. I am consistent in not changing my pro-life stance in favour of Bill which, if passed and then voted on in a referendum, will allow unlimited abortion up to 12 weeks of a viable child who could be born into this world. This can, and possibly will be defeated, by the electorate if it gets the opportunity to do so. Having listened to the debate so far tonight, it is obvious that we will have a referendum, possibly in May.

I have met many people during my lifetime but I have never met anyone yet who has said he or she was sorry to have been born. There are very few Members in this House who would say they wished never to have been born, including the Leader of the House who experienced a difficult time at birth. His mother and father fought for his life and ensured that he lived to enjoy the wonders of life, including the trials and tribulations. The fact is he could experience those opportunities. The child who is aborted will never see the light of day and will never experience the beauty of the countryside or the world. That is the reality. Whether people like it or not, that is the situation.

I believe the fundamental human right is the right to life. During the debate in 1983 the then leader of the Opposition, the late Charles J. Haughey, restated the wording that was agreed by both the Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. Let there be no doubt that there was an agreed position prior to the 1982 general election. The wording was as follows: "The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right." An effort was made by the then Taoiseach, who was advised by the late Mr. Peter Sutherland, to bring forward an alternative wording, which as follows: "Nothing in this Constitution shall be invoked to invalidate ... any provision of a law on the ground that it prohibits abortion." The wording was rejected by Dáil Éireann and Fianna Fáil. That was the decision at the time.

All of us owe a great debt of gratitude to our mothers for bringing us into this world and allowing us to experience this world. I attended a meeting of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg where I met a Senator from Canada who was an observer. She told me about her wonderful father who was a councillor in Toronto. She said a woman who was expecting her eighth child had gone to him and said her father had been kind and considerate. He had arranged for her to travel to the Netherlands for an abortion. I told the Senator that I was the youngest of eight children and that circumstances were tough at the time. I am very grateful that my mother, Mrs. Jean Leyden, made many sacrifices for her eight children, with my father, Michael. I know that she would be proud of my unflinching stand today, irrespective of opposition in the House or any other view which has been expressed. We are all entitled to our expressions and I respect people's right to have them.

Arguments were put forward and considered. At the end of the day, I want any child to have the right to be born and live, not to be terminated. To me, that is fundamental. The greatest human right is the right to life. How many children are alive today because of the eighth amendment? How many of them are now parents who have brought children into the world? Those children have great potential and, possibly, created the economy we have. That is why I stand by the decision taken by me when the matter was voted on in Dáil Éireann in 1983. I will call a vote to oppose the Second Reading of the Bill in order to be consistent. In agreeing that an abortion referendum should be held – it is an abortion referendum – I would be complicit and collaborating with those who want to bring in abortion. I am not going down that road and will be voting "No". I will also vote "No" when the issue goes before the people in a referendum.