Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

As we all would probably agree, ideally, we need a referendum to remove the Eighth Amendment to allow for a woman's right to choose. At a minimum, Amnesty International has stated that until Ireland's laws allow for abortion in cases of rape and incest, risk to a woman's health, or fatal foetal abnormality, they will be out of line with international human rights standards.

I will not repeat what has been stated a hundred times in the past year. The Minister insists that the Attorney General was not content to change the legislation to allow for cases of fatal foetal abnormality. He argued that it would not pass the test of the courts. Some experts seem to insist that it would, and the Attorney General seems to insist it would not, according to the Minister. If that is the case, should the Government be working towards a situation whereby we can deal with fatal foetal abnormalities and with cases of rape and incest? Given that the Government will be in power, I presume, for at least another two years, perhaps two and a half, should it be working towards that?

Surely the Government must agree that the present arrangement is not a good one. The idea that a woman who is raped cannot legally get an abortion in this country is not good. The fatal foetal abnormality cases are too tragic to start talking about again. We have heard the women in here telling their stories and they are just too bad to listen to. This is not a good position for the State and we should do something about it, and likewise in the case of incest. I wonder has the Government any plans after this Bill is passed to progress matters in order to deal with these issues.

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