Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I sure have and I will continue to do so. First, I very much welcome the discussion because I do not think we can talk about this enough because every day that goes by another 12 women leave this country to procure an abortion, and another three at least procure the abortion pill. The reality behind women’s lives, fatal foetal abnormality tragedies and other related issues continues as we continue to fail to deal with this issue.

I welcome the opportunity to discuss it.

I am amazed at Deputy Mattie McGrath. He has been a Member of the House a long time, but the arguments he made were so unscientific, silly, prejudiced and bigoted. They appeared to have been dragged up from a period Ireland had gone through and forgotten. On what he said about the Irish Family Planning Association, I remember it very well. The so-called pro-life people who were actually anti-choice - if they were pro-life, they would care about the deaths of women but they do not - deliberately targeted the Irish Family Planning Association, picketed its clinics and tried to have it criminalised for giving false information. They were found to have a false perception. I remember it because I took part in a counter picket on Cathal Brugha Street with people to whom Deputy Mattie McGrath referred to as women who had been hurt by abortion.

We should not frame this discussion in terms of the fear of the horrible things that happen to women after they have an abortion or that they cannot go back to their doctor because they have to hide it. The fact is that abortion is a reality in this country and we should not scapegoat women. I believe there was a day in this Parliament, although I was not around at the time - Deputy Mattie McGrath might have been here - when women who advocated repealing the eighth amendment or stood up for the right to choose were called murderers. Thank God, we have moved on and that is my point. We have moved on from the level of debate in which Deputy Mattie McGrath engaged because Irish society has moved on in a huge way and we now have to think carefully about what the reality is.

The Bill tries to address the disgraceful situation where a State-funded clinic gave information. Some of it is difficult to repeat, but one woman was told that she could not have an abortion before eight weeks of gestation because if she were to have one any earlier, there would be too much of a danger of leaving a body part behind because the foetus was so small. She was told she might still be pregnant if a body part was left behind. What ugly, unscientific, anti-medical, anti-logic crap is that to be spewing out. Whatever the Irish Family Planning Association might have told women, it certainly was not anti-medical. I know hundreds of women who, like me, would have been in dire straits without the services of the association and very much appreciated its support and advice during the country's dark years when to even say the word "abortion" would almost have resulted in a crucifix and a piece of garlic being put in front of someone because he or she was some kind of devil.

The regulation of access to information on services legally available in other states is what this discussion is about. How do we regulate access to information available in other states? One would not find this in any other aspect of life or any other jurisdiction. The services about which we are talking regulating are available in other states and we are looking at how we regulate the information on them. It speaks volumes about the country that such detailed regulations and guidelines are required to spell out to women how and where they can find information on ways and means of controlling their bodily autonomy.

In one way I echo what Deputy Mattie McGrath said. What guarantee do we have that the State did not fund or will in the future fund agencies that have existed for a long time? The one on Berkeley Street which has been referred to set itself up under various names since 2000 and at one stage advertised itself as offering advice on British options available for pregnant women, emphasising repeatedly that it focused on the truth about abortion. One can say all of these things and tick the boxes in the regulation, but does that mean that we now have to have a regulatory authority with inspectors to oversee it or from time to time send women undercover for interviews to make sure it is not happening?

It is the failure of the House to deal with the question of abortion rights for many decades that has brought us to this point. We would not be discussing the Bill had we agreed to hold a referendum to repeal the eighth amendment. We could be in a more clear-cut, uncomplicated and better place for the women of today and of the future had we agreed to put the question to the people whether they wanted to repeal or retain the eighth amendment. The eighth amendment lies behind all jof the issues about services abroad and the information available on them, etc. God knows, they were dark days when Cosmopolitan had to import its version of a magazine into this country with blank spots throughout covering advertisements for abortion services. A book entitled Everywoman was removed from every shelf in every public library in the country because it told women that they might be able to procure an abortion. It was not only the publication of books and magazines that was affected. The Trinity College Students' Union was taken through the courts because it had provided students with the names and addresses of clinics. We should move on and get away from that anti-scientific, scary argument and start thinking about what needs to be done very quickly to end this draconian law.

I welcome the discussion and congratulate Deputy Brendan Howlin on introducing the Bill. It is a pity that when his party was in power, it did not manage to have the eighth amendment repealed or vote in favour of the Blll on fatal foetal abnormalities Bill but such is life. People change and move on. Thankfully, we are moving on.

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