Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to contribute to the debate on the Thirty-fourth Amendment of the Constitution (Right to Personal Autonomy and Bodily Integrity) Bill 2014. Like previous speakers, I commend Deputy Clare Daly on her introduction of the Bill. Anyone who listened to the Deputy's contribution will know what needs to be done with regard to this legislation. Everything I say will appear inadequate after her speech, but it is important that we place our views on record.

We must show that society has compassion towards women who are in very difficult circumstances. As previous speakers noted, an estimated 160,000 women have travelled to Britain for an abortion since the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution Act was passed in 1983. Society has failed utterly on this issue. Do we want to stand over another 160,000 women having to travel to Britain for abortions - provided they can afford it - in the next 30 years? I certainly do not want to do so.

As Deputy Daly stated, the right to choose whether to have an abortion is a private decision and one that a woman should be able to make in her own right. Women should be able to rely on their community and society to give them the support they need to make the difficult decision to terminate a pregnancy. It is vital that we show compassion and allow women to do this in familiar surroundings with the support of their families and communities. We must ensure that, having made their decision, they are able to emerge from the experience in one piece and participate again in society.

The Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act was the source of great controversy last year. Soon after its enactment, however, we were presented with the Y case, which involved a woman who came to Ireland, having been raped in her own country, but was unable to travel abroad to obtain an abortion, which caused her to become suicidal. We continue to fail women by introducing piecemeal half measures that do enough to get us over the line politically. Politicians are behind the curve, because all recent opinion polls show that society is much more compassionate than we are on this issue. Members of the public recognise that women have difficult decisions to make and should be facilitated and supported in doing so. Despite this, the Oireachtas cannot get it together to act on the issue.

Deputies are afraid of a small minority of people who form a vocal lobby that puts pressure on them. Some of us find it difficult to deal with this issue because it involves making difficult choices and decisions. It becomes easy, however, when one realises that terminating a pregnancy is a decision that a woman should be able to make in her own right and in her own way. Women, in conjunction with their partner if they have one, can decide what is best for them. This decision should be removed from the Oireachtas and given to women to ensure they have their say.

Nothing demonstrates the need for change more than the issue of fatal foetal abnormalities. I attended a meeting at which women recounted details of the most horrific experiences that were forced on them when they were not allowed to terminate their pregnancies. Following a scan, a woman in such a case is told by a doctor that her child has no chance of life outside of the womb and nothing more can be done for it. It is an indictment of society that we rely on the authorities in Liverpool to deal with the problems we refuse to address. We heard women speak of the horrific experiences they endured as they tried to bring their babies home from Britain for burial in order that they could grieve. They spoke of how they felt on their return and their belief that they should keep quiet about having to leave the country to have a termination. It was horrific listening to the details of these cases, and if we had any compassion we would not allow such cases to happen again. We had the opportunity to do so last year when we discussed the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill and we now have another opportunity to do so. All that is required of the Minister is that he take the courageous decision to ensure this happens.

The pro-life side will always trot out the argument that some women decide to go through with the pregnancy in cases in which they have been informed that there is no chance of life. I pay tribute to the women who make this decision in order that they can spend some time with their child after birth. However, we must recognise that the decision in such circumstances is one for the woman to make, and not one we should impose.

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