Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Twenty one of 28 countries in the EU allow abortion on that entire suite of options.

This is not a simple issue or otherwise it would have been solved many years ago. Medicine and pharmaceuticals have moved on over the years and it is now possible to obtain through the post a pharmaceutical product that will act as an abortifacient. This is subventing and outstripping the Constitution, the law and the medical profession for better or for worse, making all these institutions redundant.

We have the options to repeal, amend or retain the eighth amendment. That is the decision the people will have to take in a referendum. It involves ethics, compassion, education, social values and choices. It is a huge social question which will have to be carefully considered and debated. Should the eighth amendment be repealed, legislation will need to be carefully crafted to reflect the will of the people. Pro-life versus pro-choice are opposites within the same spectrum. We will need to find common ground which is fair, just and compassionate.

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