Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

The aim of the amendments in my name and those I am co-sponsoring in the grouping is to bring focus to the issue of the health of women in pregnancy. Unfortunately, the health of pregnant women has been downgraded in much of the debate which has taken place. It is downgraded in particular in the minds and contributions of those who oppose any movement on the right of women to safe terminations of pregnancy where their lives and health are concerned.

There has been a significant emphasis in the Bill on the unborn, as it is termed. “Unborn”, according to the definitions section of the Bill, “in relation to a human life, is a reference to such a life during the period of time commencing after implantation in the womb of a woman and ending on the complete emergence of the life from the body of the woman”. That is hugely problematic for some of us. It means that an entity in the very early stages of a pregnancy, which is not even visible to the human eye, is superior or supposedly equal to the life of the adult woman in question. That creates major problems for women and is responsible for some of the tragedies which occur.

This is minimal legislation designed to cover in the most minimal fashion the situation thrown up by the Supreme Court in the X case. It is a cowardly Bill from the point of view of the Government. Serious issues of health and well-being faced by women in crisis pregnancies which have come to light and been brought out into the open in the course of the debate are completely ignored. If we leave aside the question of choice for the moment, we face the key, tragic issue of fatal foetal abnormality, where women are faced with horrendous circumstances. There are 1,500 such cases in the State each year and women and their partners are faced with very difficult decisions. Unfortunately, no advantage was taken of the fact that the Bill was going through the Oireachtas to deal with that situation. Those women are still faced with having to go abroad in the event of deciding that a termination is essential and necessary. It is unfortunate, to say the least, that the issue has not been dealt with. It is also cowardly that the question of pregnancy by rape or incest has not been dealt with by the Government. My aim in the amendments in the group is to direct the focus of the Bill to the health of pregnant women. It is not acceptable that a chasm in legislation is put between the life and health of a woman. Health and life converge and it is not possible to build a Chinese wall between them. The right to life of a woman is engaged where there is a serious risk to her health.

There has been much debate on the chilling effect of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 on medical personnel, particularly when confronted with women with life-threatening pregnancies. The definition of “unborn” in the legislation will similarly have a chilling effect into the future if it is enacted in its present form. Therefore, we seek to amend the definition of “unborn”. Why should a woman be subjected to a threshold of pain and suffering and not have the ability legally in the State to have a termination of pregnancy where that is required to protect her health? Even the Minister for Justice and Equality, who is very right-wing on most issues, has referred in the Dáil to the massive inequality that exists in legislation between the health of a woman and the health of a man.

Unfortunately, that is something that is continued in this legislation.

Finally, the fact is that the Government is way behind the feelings, views, and empathy and sympathy of the vast majority of people in the State with regard to these issues. The Government itself has seen indications of people's attitudes when a RED C poll in The Sunday Business Postfound that 85% were in favour of legislation where the life of the woman is threatened but 82% were in favour of taking action where the health of the woman is seriously threatened and also in the case of rape. The Government should have taken advantage of this situation in order to deal with this. Otherwise, what we will have is an ongoing situation, the English solution to the Irish problem and the total hypocrisy of women being forced out of this country and all the trauma and expense that goes with that. Unfortunately, none of that will be changed by this legislation. Therefore, I urge Deputies to think seriously about those amendments that seek to include particularly the health and well-being of a woman as a major consideration in legislation such as this.

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