Eugene Murphy (Roscommon-Galway, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Sometimes it is not the popular thing to stand up and say that. However, I think many of those who have taken this stance in this House and in our parliamentary party are quite brave. Never in my political life did I choose just to go with the flow. I often got myself into trouble at political meetings because I refused to go with the flow on several issues. Nor will I just go with the flow on this issue.

The importance of life is particularly close to my heart as is the importance of the phrase "unborn child". This phrase is taken out of nearly everything now and the unborn child is hardly ever referred to. Within my own family circle, I have a grand-niece and a nephew-in-law who have disabilities and I could not describe to anyone in this Chamber the joy that those two individuals bring to our family circle. It is a joy that no one else in the family could give. I watch two young mothers who struggle virtually every day with the State, which failed to give proper attention and care to people with disabilities. These women fight so hard for those kids and at times they are so stressed because of what they have to do. At times I do not understand how they continue to survive. However, they do, and their resilience is something extraordinary to watch. Those people tell me that they feel their story does not get a fair hearing in the media.

I welcome that in this House everyone seems to understand other people's viewpoints and that we are having a proper discussion. However, my personal view is that, as Deputy Haughey said, we are going down a very slippery slope if we go with the committee's proposal on 12 weeks.

There was an article in the Irish Independentin May 2016 by Tracy Harkin. Tracy Harkin belongs to a group called Every Life Counts. I ask everyone, irrespective of what side they are on in this debate, to read this article. I will not refer to the person to whom she refers in the article because names of families have been used too often in the debate over recent weeks and I do not think they were consulted. Therefore, I will not use the name to which she refers. In this heart-wrenching article she stated that she had listened to a certain person, who was speaking to midwives in Trinity College, state that the fact a woman could be made to carry a pregnancy to term in a case of fatal foetal abnormality was an outrage. She continued:

I thought of my nine-year-old daughter [whose name she gives but I will not say here] whom I hugged and kissed that morning as she set off for another school day. I thought of how beautiful she looked as she giggled and waved excitedly at her little brother and sister through the bus window.

She goes on to talk about her child's condition and how serious it was and she says that to her "fatal foetal abnormality" is an ugly phrase. I have made the point for a long time that, rightly or wrongly, there seems to be an insinuation that every foetal abnormality is fatal. That is not the case.

An actress on Coronation Street recently told her story on "The Ryan Tubridy Show". She spoke about how she was told by her medics that her baby was dying in the womb at 22 weeks and how she was advised to abort it. However, she did not and she went to term. She spoke of how much it meant to her that she did go to term, how she had a little ceremony for her baby boy and how she could now visit the boy's grave. I think that is a crucial point, irrespective of what side of the argument one is on.

The point I want to make is that we hear a lot about the stress and trauma of people who may have to go to England for an abortion. The stories are terrible. They are heart-wrenching stories. However, I have met people who have had abortions who said to me, "Please, try to stop someone else having one." Many people regret it very much. There is more need for education and help. I listened to Deputy Jim O'Callaghan strongly state on a number of occasions in this Chamber that he is concerned about what might happen to those with Down's syndrome. Deputy Haughey spoke about new technology and how it can be assessed at a very early stage that an unborn child has Down's syndrome. I heard Deputy O'Callaghan speak about his concerns and I take heed of what he said.

There are many questions which are unclear and not answered. My personal position is that I am fearful, as Deputy Haughey said, that we are on a slippery slope if we go down this road. It is also important to point out that a number of GPs in my constituency rang me and expressed serious concern about the removal of the eighth amendment and what might happen afterwards. If anyone does not trust me, I have their names but I will not mention them here. Those people exist, however, and it is only right that I would mention that in the Chamber.

Before I conclude, I will raise one further point which is not getting any attention in this debate.

Irish nurses and doctors who, because of their religious views or for other reasons, might not want to facilitate abortions have not been consulted. That also needs to be considered. I have made my case. I feel strongly about it but I respect everybody else's point of view. I have met pro-life and pro-choice people in my constituency. Some people do not agree with me. That is fair enough. I am very much in favour of a referendum. This is definitely an issue that should go to the people and they have the ultimate say. I am glad so many people are participating in this debate, making their views known and being honest and upfront. There are many people who feel they have been left out of this debate.

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