Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Government has its view and I have mine. If this referendum goes through, which I hope it does not, we will see in a short time who is right and who is wrong.

The Citizens' Assembly and the Oireachtas committee seemed to have one aim and one aim only on this issue, that being, to recommend a referendum to repeal the eighth amendment as soon as possible. Throughout the process, they ignored anything and anyone who would get in the way of that. One must wonder why they ignored anyone who was in favour of the eighth amendment. Of what were they afraid? Perhaps they were afraid to put it on the record that, after 22 days, the little baby's heart is beating, the baby's brain is forming at six weeks, and the baby can be seen on ultrasound sucking its thumb at 12 weeks. Perhaps they were afraid to put it on the record that one in five pregnancies in England ended in abortion. Perhaps they were afraid to put it on the record that 90% of babies diagnosed in the womb with Down's syndrome were aborted.

If we are going to be afraid of anything in this debate, we should be afraid that the elected representatives in the House and the media are hiding these facts from the people in order to push through the repeal of the eighth amendment. This is what repeal will lead to.

There is no mystery about the lives that have been saved by the eighth amendment. We all know who they are. We all know people who got pregnant but took some time to get used to the idea of being parents. Maybe they thought about travelling for an abortion but, because it was not easily available in Ireland, they had enough time to think about it some more, change their minds and have their baby instead of an abortion.

I will not be voting to repeal the eighth amendment - I will vote to retain it. I have held this view for a long time. If I as someone who has been elected by the people of Kerry to represent them in the Thirty-second Dáil did not seek to protect the life of a small, unborn baby, I would not be worth much.

I forgot to mention a point. We were invited across the road to Buswell's Hotel approximately 12 months ago. A 39 year old lady from the USA told us her story. Her mother was forced to have an abortion by her grandmother.

One way or another, the abortion took place but she lived. She attended a meeting across the road and told her story. She was 39 years of age at that stage; she must be 40 now. Life is precious. When we see something like that happening, we realise the situation. There was nothing wrong with that woman. At that stage when she was an unborn baby, she had done nothing wrong. I am glad she lived and came over here to tell us her story. I worry about all the others who did not make it. I hope our country will reject the repeal of the eighth amendment and that it will be retained to protect the unborn baby and the mother.

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