Bobby Aylward (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am very happy to have the opportunity to state my position on the Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2018 in the Dáil. I previously spoke in the House on this very important issue in late January. I will not repeat myself at length but I will reiterate an important point I made in my speech that evening. I have always believed in standing by my principles and that speaking from the heart will never send me too far wrong. That is how I have consistently approached this issue. As I previously stated, I have put politics aside on many occasions in the past and reflected honestly on the issue. Following periods of such reflection, I have always come to the same conclusion; I am a pro-life person and a pro-life politician. Despite agreeing with much of what the Minister said in his speech on the Bill on 9 March, my position remains the same. If we remove the eighth amendment of the Constitution, we will relinquish all protection of the unborn in the Constitution for good. We often speak in the House about vulnerable groups of people in society and the unborn are surely the most vulnerable of all such groups. They are unable to speak for themselves and rely solely on this amendment to the Constitution for their only protection. It remains their only protection. If the result of the referendum removes this protection, the fate of the unborn will be placed in the hands of legislators. I must keep an eye on the future in this regard. Future Governments with a strong majority, whether they lean hard to the left or hard to the right, could make further legislative change which the people of Ireland may have no control over. That is important. The people have to think about that before they vote at the end of May. If they give away the protection the unborn have at the moment, they must consider that they will never again have a say in legislation to protect the unborn. That is very important. The only way they could get it back is if a future Government, whether of the left or right, went back to the people again for a referendum. It is very unlikely that would happen. People have to think long and hard before they make this decision.

I welcome the Minister's commitment to ensuring that all women accessing maternity services should receive the same standards of safe, high quality care. I will outline some of the recommendations in the Minister's speech that I welcome. I agree with the Minister, Deputy Harris, that every woman from every corner of Ireland should expect and be able to access the maternity services she needs. I am glad the Minister is prioritising the improvement of the quality and safety of maternity care, the development of community midwifery teams and increasing access to anomaly scans. I welcome the commitment from Government to build capacity in our ultrasound service and the additional funding that has been promised to the national women and infants health programme to develop a more equitable and consistent antenatal screening service. The development of the national standards for bereavement care following pregnancy loss and the establishment of bereavement teams on all maternity units is very welcome. As a husband, father, grandfather and uncle, I am acutely aware of the importance of women's health. Despite my views, I am on the record of the Dáil stating that if the appropriate medical personnel conclude the mother's life is at risk, if they conclude beyond medical doubt that the foetus will not survive and both parents are in agreement, then as a last resort abortion should be considered if deemed medically necessary.

I agree this must be put to the people. If it is being put, I would prefer some wording to be included that would protect the life of the unborn. It is very important. I agree that fatal foetal abnormality, rape and incest are very important issues. They are very crude and we do not know why they happen. I accept that some amendment could be made to the legislation, such as exists at the moment, to provide for circumstances such as a threat to the life of the mother or suicide. We can include other amendments. A repeal of the eighth amendment with no protection for the unborn is a step too far. I am asking the people of Ireland when they make the decision to think long and hard before they give away that right. I may be condemning myself as a legislator because we may not be able to handle it here. People must realise that if they vote for the removal of the eighth amendment without other legislation being put in place they will never again have a say in the protection of the unborn in this country. I ask them to think long and hard before they make that decision.

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