Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 28 deals with the possibility of abortion on the grounds of disability and in particular for conditions such as Down's syndrome. For all the wrongs that have taken place in this country over the past century we can be proud of how we cherish Irish citizens born with Down's syndrome. This legislation looks as if it will bring an end to this because all the European countries with similar liberal abortion regimes have seen the number of people born with Down's syndrome dwindle to almost zero. In the UK, 90% of children diagnosed with Down's syndrome are aborted and in Denmark that number is 100%. There is now a test which can screen for Down's syndrome with 99% accuracy at ten weeks, two weeks before the 12-week limit for abortion on demand under this legislation.

In an article in the Irish Independenton 24 May, the day before the referendum, the Minister for Health said the Government specifically excluded disability as grounds for abortion in the legislation. In a post on a Twitter account during the campaign the Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Gaeltacht, Deputy Madigan, reproduced a graphic design from Fine Gael's head office to explain the Government's abortion proposal stating that termination on grounds of disability is prohibited. Both these statements were absolutely and totally false as it stands and there is no provision in the Bill that prohibits abortion on the grounds of disability. As abortion campaigners admitted during the referendum campaign and, as has been said many times in the House, the availability of screening tests can detect a range of disabilities and genetic abnormalities as early as the third week of pregnancy. There is nothing in the Bill to in any way prohibit children who test positive for these conditions being aborted within the 12-week time limit. The Ministers, Deputies Harris and Madigan, seemed to agree on prohibiting abortions on the grounds of disability during the referendum campaign. Why do they not include a clear provision to that effect in the legislation?

I strongly support amendment No. 28 which seeks to do so and the Government should do likewise, otherwise it will have sold a pup to the electorate on this issue. If the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, is a man of his word, as he stated on 24 May, he would specifically exclude disability as grounds for abortion in the legislation. He would support this amendment.

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