Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

It is unfortunate we have to squeeze into six minutes our contributions on a very serious case which arose over the summer. We are forced to raise it as a Topical Issue matter instead of time being set aside. A young rape victim who had already been sexually violated was further violated by this State.

She was prevented from having a timely, early abortion and the Government then saw fit to obtain a court order to facilitate her being forcibly hydrated.

The Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act was meant to deal with the small number of situations where someone who is suicidal is supposed to have a right to an abortion. However, it has failed the first test and has proven to be completely and utterly barbaric. This is the latest in a long series of the Irish State taking control of women's bodies and their lives. The thread runs from the Magdalen laundries, through the mother and baby homes and on to the practice of symphysiotomy, which led to women having their pelvises broken during childbirth because ideological doctors saw fit to do that to them. The Government is continuing to uphold the status quo. For too long the State has leaned on the Catholic Church for support and given it inordinate power. At a time when support for that church within society is so limited, the State continues to grant it inordinate power over women's lives.

The Socialist Party will be challenging the Government to hold a referendum on this matter in the spring. The constant mantra to the effect that there is no appetite for such a referendum runs completely contrary to the views of young people. Their views and those of the individuals in government are light years apart. This is not an issue for most people in society. The majority of citizens would support the idea of abortion in circumstances where a woman's life or health are at risk, where she has been raped or where an abnormality exists. Is the Government stating that we must wait a further 31 years before we change this medieval law? It should be remembered that no woman of childbearing age had a vote in the referendum held in 1983. Is the Government determined to wait until another poor or sick woman dies as a result of its rank hypocrisy, which is based on the fact that it might lose a few backbenchers and is ideologically opposed to abortion? We must end the hypocrisy of forcing thousands of working-class women to gather together €1,500 in order to go abroad to have an operation, when, for example, they could pay €90 for an abortion pill in this country. It is time for the hypocrisy to stop and for the Government to name the date for the referendum in order that people might have their say.

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