Martin Ferris (Kerry, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is essential that the debate on this issue inside and outside the Oireachtas is carried out in a respectful and cordial manner and that all points of view are heard. We must not go down the road of the 1983 referendum campaign when people were viciously attacked and called murderers and so forth. Much of the conduct during that debate was disgraceful. Thankfully, the debate on the forthcoming referendum has been respectful thus far and I hope that will continue.

All of us must make a difficult decision on the eighth amendment and we will all agonise to some degree before taking a position on the matter. I did not give the issue of abortion much thought after the referendum in 1983 until a personal experience in my family much later. In 2001, my son and his wife were expecting their first child, who would have been our first grandchild. Four and a half or five months into the pregnancy, they were told their child would not live independently because the brain of the baby in the womb had not developed and would not develop. As a result, the baby might not survive birth and if it did survive, it would not be for long. The medical reports provided by the gynaecologist indicated there was a danger of the baby dying in the womb and outlined the potential consequences in the event of such a scenario. It was suggested that my son and daughter-in-law could opt for early inducement or seek a termination outside the country. They were devastated, as were my wife, Marie, and I, when they told us this news and asked for guidance on whether to seek a termination to protect the life of the mother or take a chance and see the pregnancy out. There was no doubt that the child would not survive. They took a decision to persevere with the pregnancy in the hope that nothing would happen to my daughter-in-law. The baby was induced in early 2002 after seven and a half months in the womb and lived for 58 minutes before dying in her parents' arms. We were all present and I will never forget it. If matters had gone the other way, the four children my son and daughter-in-law subsequently had would not be in this world. They have since had two lovely little girls and two little boys, although they are no longer little as they are 14, 11, nine and six years old. The family has a grave for the baby who was born and survived for 58 minutes. Her name was Seoidín and they visit the grave frequently. Her mother and father visit every week and her brothers and sisters also visit regularly. I consider them very fortunate in that things could have gone terribly wrong. Perhaps if a facility for abortion had been available in this country at the time, circumstances would have been different. In any case, things worked out well.

I have given much thought to this issue in recent months, as have my comrades in Sinn Féin. One tries to put oneself in a position where a daughter is the victim of rape or a fatal foetal abnormality is diagnosed and the only way out is for one's daughter to get on a boat to England to have a termination. I do not know if Deputies heard a heartbreaking interview on radio this morning in which a lady gave an account of her circumstances, which were similar to those of my daughter-in-law. However, as there was a danger of cancer, she took the decision to seek a termination and went to England. She broke down many times as she described her experience. She said her one regret was that her mother was not with her after she had her pregnancy terminated.

The cruellest part of all was that she and her husband had to bring that baby home. They got a little coffin but there was a delay. The weather was very warm because of the time of year and they had to buy ice packs to put in the coffin to bring their baby home. They did that on a bus, with the coffin in the compartment underneath. They described the difficulties they had on the bus. When they arrived at the port in this jurisdiction, they came to a checkpoint but the garda on duty, to his credit, waved them through.

When I listened to that this morning, any doubts I had were wiped away. As legislators, we have failed that woman and the 3,500 people who make similar journeys each year. We have failed the 8,000 or 9,000 people who obtain abortion pills annually. We have failed many of the people mentioned by Deputy Connolly just a few minutes ago. We must do the right thing and support repeal before debating what will follow. We must empower legislators to do the job they are elected to do. Let the testimony of people who have been through what that woman described this morning on the radio be a help to all of us who have a tough decision to make. I have no doubt that her story touched many people. Before I was ever elected, people came to me and told me about having terminations. These were young people in particular who had to go on the boat to England for terminations and they had no support on their return. They were hidden and received no counselling or other necessary support. They were afraid to go for it in case somebody found out about it. There was a stigma attached to it because of a lack of legislation that would help people.

We can do this right. There is scaremongering by some people that we could open the floodgates but I read recently that there are states in America with proper procedures in place and the abortion rates have been reduced to an absolute minimum. There are counselling facilities prior to procedures and a delay to allow time for decision-making in order that people can ensure there is no other option. If there is a termination, counselling facilities are provided afterwards to help the people involved. It should be an example to all of us.

If we do not face this, we will fail the hundreds of thousands of women who have left this country stigmatised as criminals. We will fail the people - like the lady I heard this morning - who take the boat and who, in some cases, bring back a child in a coffin for burial. I will support the repeal of the eighth amendment and I would be delighted to take part in the subsequent debate on legislation. The leaders' debate that occurred after the Minister announced what would happen was one of the best examples I heard from all those leaders. It demonstrated a maturity in dealing with and presenting the issues. It was respectful, and long may that continue in this debate.

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