Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am sharing time with Deputy Carol Nolan.

It is only six months since the referendum on the eighth amendment and already we are being asked to vote on legislation to provide for abortion. As a Member of Dáil Éireann and in my role as a legislator I cannot help but think of what is going to be rushed through in this vote. I am disappointed that little or no time is being allowed to debate the content of the proposed legislation thoroughly. Before the referendum last March, the Minister, Deputy Harris, assured us that if the referendum passed, there would be ample time to debate any legislative proposals. Now here we are, the ample time has been cut down to a few hours and it is not enough. The Government wants this legislation rushed through.

The referendum on the eighth amendment was one of the most divisive and contested we have had in Ireland. For some people, their views changed while others deliberated. It has been a decision that people did not take lightly and we need to dedicate more time to this legislation. One big selling point of the repeal the eighth campaign was that the eighth amendment needed to be repealed in order for any change in the legislation to take place. Many people have voted for change and repeal but without knowing the limit or the extent of these changes. I believe that legislating for this is the most contested part and today it is being hurried. In the long run-up to the referendum, many of my constituents got in touch with me and shared their many concerns about different aspects of abortion, some anxious for repeal on a variety of different grounds and others anxious to keep protection for the unborn.

I have been taking a second look at the provisions of the proposed legislation and am very alarmed by some of its content. I am shocked at how extreme the legislation is proposed to be, even though there were reassurances from the Government during the campaign. It is not just about what is in the Bill but also what is missing in terms of any restrictions on abortion, most obviously the fact that abortion is permissible up until birth. Many decided to vote yes last May in the hope that a restrictive regime would be put in place. The question that keeps coming into my mind is what will my constituents say when they realise the abortion law they are being landed with is not the limited provision of abortion they were promised but one of the most unrestrictive abortion regimes anywhere in Europe and the wider world.

The legislation defines abortion as "a medical procedure intended to end the life of a foetus". In one provision it does not need to be necessary to save the mother’s life or safeguard her health; it is to be available on request with no reason needed. The baby’s humanity and value and right to life as a human being are absolutely ignored.

The Government insists that abortion is just healthcare, but this is untrue. This legislation allows abortions even where they are not a necessary treatment for the mother. If they really wanted to show compassion and respect, and to treat the unborn as what he or she really is, a fellow human being, then the legislation would at least require that every reasonable effort should be made to save the life of the baby when treating the mother as our medical ethics has always required. However, this law is about a right to have a baby killed on request with no reason needed. There is no compassion, no respect and no concern for the unborn.

If the Government really wanted to show compassion for the unborn then at the very least it would include a requirement on medical professionals to provide appropriate protection from the pain the baby feels during the abortion procedure particularly when the abortion is in the later stages. However, the legislation as it stands contains no such requirement. Can this one amendment at least be allowed for adequate age-appropriate anaesthetic and pain relief for the baby?

We know from international experience that sometimes babies are born alive after failed abortions. According to the Canadian Institute for Health Information there were 766 late-term live birth abortions - babies born alive after failed abortions - in the period from 2013 to 2018. In Britain, 66 babies were born alive after abortion and left to die in one year alone. This information was published by the Department of Health in the CEMACH report of 2007. If we were serious about having respect for life, surely at the very least the legislation could include a provision requiring medical professionals to intervene and provide life-saving care to the baby.

We know that some hospitals in the UK have refused to intervene and simply left the babies to die, which is a disgrace. As it stands, this legislation has no such provisions. I believe that the only right thing to do when this happens is for the doctors to be required by the legislation to intervene at once with life-saving care if a baby survives an abortion.

The Government has repeatedly assured us that the legislation would not legalise abortion solely because of a baby's gender, or because a baby had Down's syndrome or suffered from a disability. We know that all over the world these are grounds on which abortions are widely sought in other jurisdictions. However, at no point does the legislation exclude these grounds for abortion. What we have been landed with is much more unrestrictive than we were promised.

Is abortion a medical healthcare procedure even though in the words of the proposed legislation it is defined as “intended to end life of a foetus”? A doctor with a pregnant woman has two patients, the mother and the baby. Are we expected to pretend it is acceptable for a doctor intentionally to end the life of one patient as healthcare for the other? This Bill would legalise abortion on request up to 12 weeks - 12 weeks of the baby’s life. I will be voting against this legislation. I will, however, support amendments based on what I have said, to try to limit the destructive impact this legislation will have on women and the unborn.

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