Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution for all its hard work on this hugely important issue and for producing what I believe to be a detailed, informative and worthwhile report. The majority of the members conducted themselves with dignity, compassion, and thoughtfulness throughout the hearings. Unfortunately, a small minority acted disgracefully in an attempt to undermine the work of this Oireachtas committee. As a Chair of an Oireachtas committee, I commend Senator Catherine Noone, who had the difficult job of chairing this committee, but who did an extremely good job. I thank my colleagues, Deputies Jonathan O'Brien and Louise O'Reilly and Senator Paul Gavan. I thank the Citizens' Assembly for the work it has carried out on this issue.

I fully support holding a referendum on repealing the eighth amendment at the earliest possible date. I will vote in favour of the repeal Bill when it comes to the Dáil, and I will actively campaign in favour of repeal in the referendum. This is a women's health issue. It is an extremely sensitive, complicated, and personal issue and it should not be in Bunreacht na hÉireann. It is an extremely personal issue. I know there are wide-ranging views in society and I respect them but it is time for a referendum. The eighth amendment was inserted into Bunreacht na hÉireann in 1983, as other speakers have said. Ireland was a very different place then. It was in this period that Joanne Hayes was brutalised and wronged by An Garda Síochána, and her case reveals the horrific way in which women all over this country were treated by our society. A few months after the referendum Ann Lovett, a 15 year old girl from Granard in Longford, died giving birth beside a grotto in Granard. Many decades later, I still have the image in my head of that child dying at that grotto. The public was outraged at the death of this young, vulnerable woman, but in death she was forgotten. Compassion and understanding were set aside by the State and the church.

It will come as some shock and is probably hard for many people to believe that, in this period in the 1980s, the State and the Catholic Church were imprisoning women in Magdalen laundries. The eighth amendment was conceived, debated and inserted into the Constitution in this toxic and repressive moment of our history. I commend all the women who have fought for and continue to fight for equality and an inclusive, understanding and compassionate lreland. Women now of child bearing age were born after the last referendum and have not been able to vote on this issue which massively affects their health and lives.

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I hope that, collectively, we recognise the personal nature of this issue and that the respectful debate we are having is also reflected in the referendum campaign. This is not some abstract and philosophical debate; this is both a fundamental human right and a health care issue.

The eighth amendment prohibits access to a basic medical treatment in any developed society. Professor Malone, Dr. Peter Boylan and Dr. Rhona Mahony, masters of maternity hospitals in this State, all said at the committee hearings that the eighth amendment is an impediment to them doing their job. The X case in particular brought into sharp focus the worst effects of this prohibition, when a child who was pregnant as a result of rape was dragged through the courts by the State to force her to continue the pregnancy from rape to full term. That case highlighted the callous nature of the State at the time. I was reared in Rathfarnham and the Garda station involved in the case was 100 yd down the road. I can recall what happened. Decades later, we still force victims of rape who become pregnant to carry a pregnancy to full term. Even in the public outcry following the X case, the Oireachtas failed to give leadership and make the necessary legislative changes.

In 2012, another tragedy rocked Ireland - the death of Savita Halappanavar. Her avoidable death, after she was refused an abortion, even though a miscarriage in her pregnancy was inevitable, was a watershed moment. We have a long and difficult history of legislation discriminating against women, and we need to end this injustice. Repealing the eighth amendment will be a major part of this. I can relate to, and understand that, the public are angry that politicians have stalled, prevaricated and failed to legislate for a referendum. I have no doubt the public are way ahead of politicians on this sensitive issue.

Let us not try to fool ourselves. Abortion is a reality in Ireland. Abortion pills are available here. They can be ordered online and taken by women without medical supervision. Women can go to England to have abortions. This is an English solution to an Irish problem, but it is no solution. According to the Irish Family Planning Association, between January 1980 and December 2016, at least 170,216 women and girls travelled from this State to access abortion services in another country. The women who availed of these abortion pills and abortion services in England are not strangers. They are our family, friends, neighbours and fellow citizens. There are women older, younger and the same age as me who have needed abortions and who have been forced to leave Ireland for them or to have them illegally here. That is wrong, it is an injustice and it has traumatised women and couples, yet many women have been shamed for this decision or feel shame for having an abortion. I want to say to any woman who is listening and who has had an abortion: Do not feel shame. You have done nothing wrong apart from seeking medical care. You have suffered an injustice and the only shame is that in Ireland, your country and your home, you were not able to receive the appropriate and compassionate health care you desperately needed and wanted.

Sinn Féin policy accepts the need for abortion to be available where a woman's life, health or mental health is at serious risk or in danger, and in cases of rape or sexual abuse. I have heard personal testimony from women who have had to carry a pregnancy with a fatal foetal abnormality. I cannot understand how any society can be so cruel that women whose pregnancies are affected by this fatal condition are forced to carry their pregnancies to full term. Women will choose to carry these pregnancies to full term, which is their right, and they should receive all the necessary supports to allow them to do that with dignity and compassion. However, many others will not, and cannot, carry these pregnancies to full term, and they should also receive all the necessary supports in their country to allow them to end the pregnancy with dignity and compassion.

The key issue is choice. I have always believed it should be a woman’s choice. It is incumbent on us all to ensure a referendum on repealing the eighth amendment is held as soon as it is legally and physically possible. It is my belief that the referendum should be in May. The date chosen must reflect the need to ensure that the referendum will be inclusive and that everyone will have an opportunity to vote. It is time to set this up, to have a public, State-wide debate, to hear from the medical experts, and for the people to decide whether to repeal the eighth amendment. This is about compassion and wanting to support or exclude women. I want to show that compassion and I want to support my sisters, colleagues, friends, neighbours and young and old people who find that they need to have an abortion. I want to be there by their side and we all need to do that.

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