Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to open this section of the debate this evening. Seven months have passed since the House last debated legislation to give effect to the 1992 Supreme Court ruling in the X case. Sinn Féin supported the passage to Committee Stage of that legislation, which was tabled by Deputy Clare Daly last April. We will support this Bill in the same way tonight. We are taking this position because we recognise there is an urgent need to legislate to give legal protection and clarity to pregnant women and to their doctors. We are taking this position because the inertia and negligence of successive Governments on the basic issue of protecting pregnant women's lives must be ended now.

The Sinn Féin motion that was tabled and debated last week called for the publication of the report of the expert group. This has since happened, as we know, albeit following extensive leaking of the document last weekend. It is strange to reflect that the Government which last week urged us all to postpone action and patiently await this report felt it appropriate or opportune to leak the report before any one of us had sight of it. This kind of game-playing does nothing to build confidence in the Government's approach to dealing with this issue. The expert group report sets out four options for Government action. While it does not make an explicit recommendation, it makes it clear that legislation is necessary.

It is worth stating for the purposes of clarity that the circumstances in which any woman may lawfully obtain a termination of her pregnancy in this State are very restrictive. In 1992, the Supreme Court ruled that a termination might be lawful only if there is "a real and substantial risk" to the life of the woman in question. It further ruled that if the life of a pregnant woman is in jeopardy, a termination is not lawful unless a termination is the only way of averting that risk. In other words, the pregnant woman must be at "a real and substantial risk" of death and there must be no other means of saving her life. Those are the tests to be applied if a termination is to be lawful. The X case ruling and the legislation arising from it do not comprise a formula for a liberal abortion regime. It is not a prescription for what is termed "abortion on demand" - far from it. Any attempt to describe it as such deliberately ignores and distorts the constitutional and legal realities that exist in this State today.

In the past week, I have heard many people express the fear that suicide will be included in legislation as a ground for obtaining a legal termination of pregnancy. As we know, the X case ruling arose because of "a real and substantial risk" of death by suicide in the case of a teenage girl who became pregnant after being abused and raped. It is important to be precise in respect of how the Supreme Court found on the question of the suicide threat. The court ruled that a termination of pregnancy is lawful where the threat of suicide poses "a real and substantial risk" to the life of the woman and where no other intervention can save the life of that woman, or child in the case of X. This is not a prescription for what some people have inaccurately and erroneously described as "abortion on mental health grounds". It is wrong to suggest that legislating for the X case is some kind of slippery slope that will lead to an open-ended liberal abortion regime. It is not true.

Abortion is a long-running and divisive issue across Irish society. The sincerely held differences of view on the matter are not likely to be reconciled soon. In my opinion, that difference and that debate can and must be accommodated in a democratic society. I do not think anybody should fear this debate. It is important to say that any extension of the circumstances in which abortion might be permissible is not the subject of this evening's debate. We are dealing with a Bill that seeks to give legislative expression to something which is already lawful. The abject failure of Government after Government and Dáil after Dáil to respond to the Supreme Court judgment of 20 years ago, thereby leaving a legal vacuum and treating women’s lives in a cavalier manner, cannot and must not be tolerated in a democratic society.

It is a great pity that the Minister, Deputy Shatter, has signalled the Government's intention to vote this legislation down. He said last night that he believes there are imperfections in the Bill as drafted. Sinn Féin also has a number of concerns about the Bill as it stands. The Minister said there is a need for clarity on the constitutional balance being struck in the Bill. He spoke about the "blanket immunity" that is being given to doctors in section 5 of the Bill. He referred to deficits in "decision-making processes" and issues with regard to the appeals panel. I am not saying these are not matters of substance. These issues require precise consideration, redrafting and amendment. Such changes can be made on Committee Stage. That is normal when we process legislation through the Oireachtas. Regardless of what members of Fine Gael, the Labour Party or Fianna Fáil might say - the same people delayed on this matter for two decades - it must be emphasised that the imperfections in the Bill are not good reasons to vote it down.

I notice that this Bill has changed over the past seven months. It is now identified as an interim and necessary measure to protect women. That is very important. We should not lose sight of it. The Government has set out a timetable of sorts for the consideration of the expert group report. We know that the Joint Committee on Health and Children will hold hearings on the matter after Christmas. We have not yet been given a definitive commitment or timetable for legislation on the X case. What should women and doctors do in the here and now? Where do they stand in the meantime?

I appreciate that this Government wants to get the legislation right. I will give it credit in that regard because it is the proper approach to take. However, I would like to set it a challenge. The medical profession has made it clear that as a result of 20 years of delay, it has been facing difficulties in those grey areas. As legislators, we have been resoundingly told by public opinion that we must get on with our job. In that context, it is clear that the rationale for voting this Bill down is very threadbare indeed. Perhaps the Government will vote it down simply because it can. That is entirely the wrong way to approach this issue.

I commend the Deputies who have introduced this Bill. It is worthy of the support of this House. It should be allowed to proceed to Committee Stage. It does not stand in the way of any of the other debates or deliberations that are being led by the Government. The women and doctors of Ireland have made it clear to the Members of the Dáil that we must make right the failure to legislate and we must do it now.

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