Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputy Bríd Smith.

Last night, I joined thousands of others on the march for International Women's Day. The key demand on that march was the repeal of the eighth amendment. There were many young people on the march. There were also older people. The marchers were primarily young, however, and the message was that a new generation does not want our past to be its future. They want to be able to have a democratic right to have a vote on this, which is the purpose of this referendum Bill. They do not want those who oppose that to play games with this legislation and try to delay it. Those people should at least stand for the democratic right of people to have a say on this.

The march ended symbolically around Busáras, Connolly Station, Dublin Port and the airport road, where thousands of nameless women started their abortion journey. Today, there is no question but that the horrific cases of A, B, C, X, Y and Savita Halappanavar will resonate throughout our discussion. We want to end the early-morning flight mentioned by a previous speaker — the flight of shame — and recognise the right of women, including pregnant women, to control their own bodies.

This is a very historic day. I would go so far as to say this is the most sought-after referendum that anybody could cite. It has been campaigned for over many years. The legislation is one of the most important civil, health and women's rights measures that will be introduced in this Dáil for many years.

Considering that, according to the Crisis Pregnancy Agency, one in three pregnancies is a crisis pregnancy, this issue affects quite a lot of people in society. It has been said already that the eighth amendment of 1983 was a constitutional coup. It was also a clerical coup because it was carried out, it would have to be said, at the behest of zealots of one particular religion. An interesting book by Dr. Andrew Rynne, who was a general practitioner at the time, lists the groups that called for the amendment, which included the Irish Catholic Doctors Guild; the Catholic Guild of Pharmacists; and the Catholic Young Men's Society. These were the groups that made up the Pro-Life Amendment Campaign. Also included were the Catholic Nurses Guild of Ireland, the Federation of Christian Brothers and Other Secondary Schools Parents Association, the National Congress of Catholic Schools Parent Associations, the Council of Social Concern, the Irish Pro-Life Movement, Muintir na Tíre, and the National Association of the Ovulation Method in Ireland. We have lots of members in that. Also included were the Irish Responsible Society, the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children, the Irish Association of Lawyers for the Defence of the Unborn. I think we know from where this emanated and we must correct this injustice now with this vote.

For pregnant people to lose their constitutional rights is unacceptable. It is a blight on women's lives. It is a blight on the State's human rights record. It is a symbol of how women's sexuality has been controlled in this country for far too long and of the rigid roles to which women have been forced to adhere.

To equate a woman with a fertilised egg, zygote, embryo or foetus is outrageous. It has led to the death and ill health of many people. I wish to quote a statement by Savita Halappanavar's mother after the death of her daughter:

In an attempt to save a four-month old foetus, they killed my 30-year-old daughter. How is that fair? You tell me.

The quotation is quite apt. The idea that the two should be equal is in question. The reality is that they were not equal. Women are subordinated if pregnant.

The main aim of the eighth amendment was obviously to prevent abortion but there was mission creep into other areas, including women's consent or pregnant women having consent, alive or even dead. The amendment must go for that reason alone. This referendum is about removing that archaic law. We should remember, going into this, the opportunism of political parties bowing to the pressure of the zealots to have a referendum in 1983. According to Dr. Andrew Rynne, both of the largest political parties prostrated themselves in front of these pressure groups with reckless disregard for the consequences. Thirty-five years on, we are in a position to right that injustice.

The claim has been made by those opposed to change that the eighth amendment has saved lives. We see this claim everywhere. We have no way of answering how many lives have allegedly been saved but we know for a fact that 170,000 women have given Irish addresses in the United Kingdom when having abortions. In addition, we now know that at least five people per day are having an abortion at home using an abortion pill. In this regard, let me read from a very recent academic study. It was, of course, conducted in Britain, not Ireland. The HSE should be producing this information. Carried out last year by Professor Sally Sheldon of the University of Kent, the study, into the use of abortion pills North and South, shows that 3,000 requests from Ireland, North and South, were sent to two websites alone: www.womenonweb.organd www.womenhelp.org. Let me break that down. Let us guess that 2,000 of the requests came from the Republic of Ireland. This amounts to 40 per week. Let us say that a number of the women did not go ahead with a termination because some people decide not to, as is their right - we are in favour of choice. That amounts to five per day. Therefore, the figures being cited by many people here may not be cited in full knowledge of the study to which I refer and should perhaps be much higher. The study covers only two websites; there are others. We have to face the reality that abortions are taking place. To say the amendment saves lives is obviously a joke.

The WHO told the Oireachtas committee there is no difference in abortion rates, legal or illegal. The Netherlands, which has really no restriction whatsoever, has the lowest rate in the world. If the people to whom I refer were serious about lowering abortion rates, they would be backing campaigns for contraception and sex education, but their leaders vehemently oppose these. They need to be called out on that. We should stop calling them pro-life because women's lives matter as well. Whenever a woman dies or suffers, these people are wheeled out to deny the reality of why she has died, which is because of the eighth amendment.

On the question of life, there is no magic moment when a life becomes a human being. What we do know, however, is that one must have more importance than the other.

12 o’clock

Some people are trying to make this referendum about something else. They are trying to make it about stigmatising the disabled, eugenics and most recently I even heard about abortion for sex selection. None of these are reasons why pregnant people in Ireland choose abortion. They are also trying to make it about late abortion, showing horrific pictures which I hope the referendum commission, which is being set up today, will challenge. These are about 1% of abortions and are carried out most usually for health reasons. In this referendum, we must make the case for the repeal of the eighth amendment and make a positive case for legislating afterwards for the reality of why people choose abortion, whether on Irish soil or abroad. I think that people will support that and show the same solidarity and respect for choices as they did in the marriage equality referendum. Hear our voices, respect our choices.

If we have conversations in colleges, workplaces and schools, we will be able to persuade people that this change is necessary, that people do not make these decisions lightly and they are often difficult. The reasons why most Irish women choose abortion were listed in the report of the joint committee, the first being that the person could not cope with a child in their life at this time. That is an important reason and a valid reason for why someone should be allowed to make that decision, rather than it being made by the church or the State. That there was no support or money; age; education; health; rape; and fatal foetal abnormality were factors. I do not have the time here, but I exhort people to look at the cases published every day on the Facebook page, In Her Shoes, where people are coming out with their abortion stories, giving countless examples of why they have made that journey. Some 63% of Irish people who have had abortions have children already, which completely goes against the stereotype of the anti-abortion campaign. Most are aged between 30 to 34 years, the second largest group is 25 to 29 years. These are people who know what they are doing and we have to support them.

The proposal for 12 weeks would cover 92% of the abortions that take place. We have abortion on demand in Ireland for those who are in the know and can afford it. There is abortion on demand through the Internet or through going abroad: there are no questions asked. Let us legislate for it. Does anyone seriously believe that young people and women will accept living in the twilight zone if this referendum is not carried? Look at Spain yesterday, where 5 million went on strike for women's rights. People North and South, in both States, want the right to control their own bodies. Let us recognise the rights of those people.

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