Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We also celebrate the right of human beings to enjoy life, whether we speak of a criminal on death row, an innocent baby girl or a baby with Down's syndrome. None of us is perfect but our life is worthy and we are all worthy of life. Who is any one of us to determine that one single life is not worth living or protecting?

I did not stand for elected office to pursue a pro-life agenda and my view before all the elections I contested was crystal clear and often repeated on many doorsteps in my constituency and on the airwaves. It was no secret that my party, Fine Gael, unashamedly defended the right to life and issued repeated statements to that effect over the years, including stridently in advance of the last general election. As with most politicians in the last election, I campaigned on a platform almost entirely focused on the economic future of our country. For me and Fine Gael, this was essentially a pro-enterprise agenda concerned with restoring our economic sovereignty and ensuring we emerge from the shackles of our bailout programme, restoring hope and dignity to our citizens.

This is what we in Fine Gael have dedicated ourselves to in the two years and nearly four months since our Government was formed. Along with the Taoiseach and all our Ministers, I have worked day and night to contribute to this country's recovery. I certainly do not want to give up on this work. I firmly believe that we still have much to do. The revelation of the Anglo Irish Bank tapes last week reminded me of this. It reminded me once again of the disease and rot at the heart of the system which I want to contribute to changing.

What of another type of rot - one which could enshrine in Irish law for the first time ever and in contravention of our expressed constitutional obligations a hierarchy of human being in this State and one that says we can select who deserves to live and who does not? People have contacted me in recent months condemning me for having a moral or ethical concern about abortion. Some demanded that I leave my morals or conscience aside in order to support abortion. I find this logic bizarre. There is an emerging consensus in Ireland which suggests that having a sense of morality has something to do with the Catholic Church. It is automatically assumed that if one wishes to consult with one's conscience, that somehow equates to consulting with Rome. This is a lazy way of attempting to undermine the worth of an argument without actually dealing with the substance. This is not just a Catholic issue any more than it is a Protestant or Muslim issue. It is not a religious issue; it is a human rights issue. I wonder what one should consult with when voting on a fundamental human rights issue such as this if it is not one's own conscience. My personal view is that all I can do when making a decision on life and death - and that is what we are considering here - is consult my conscience, which is based on my sense of what is right and wrong.

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