Catherine Noone (Fine Gael)

I welcome this timely debate and commend my colleague and friend, Senator Mullen, on raising this issue. I agree with various things other speakers have said during this discussion. Obviously, I deplore the concept of gendercide and believe we must take whatever measures possible to prevent it from taking place. During this debate, we must take time to consider all other violations of the rights of women and girls. The Government amendment, which condemns female infanticide and all other violations of the rights of women and girls in the strongest possible terms, goes in the direction in which Senator Mullen would like to go to a certain extent.

I was horrified to read in The Guardian last weekend about the death of a 37 year old Chinese mother of two during an abortion. The woman in question was six months pregnant with her third child when a number of family planning officials arrived at her house and ordered her to accompany them to hospital. The procedure went ahead despite her protestations and those of her relatives who were attacked when they tried to stop it. She died on the operating table from heart failure. Her death can be seen as a callous abuse of human rights. Two children have been left without a mother and another child has been denied the right to life. A family has been ripped apart. It is a disgrace that women's rights and human rights could have been so cruelly disregarded in 2011. As a woman, I am proud of the advancements in gender equality that have taken place in recent decades. Incidents of this nature remind us that some women are still being treated as second class citizens in this world. They should not and cannot be ignored.

Speaking as a woman, it is clear that all of these actions are a reflection of the societies in which they occur. Even today, in certain parts of the world, women's lives are viewed as of lesser value than those of men. That this is happening in 2011 is astonishing. As such, while I reluctantly oppose the motion put forward by Senator Mullen, I am interested to hear the Minister of State's view. The main problem with the motion is that it is somewhat personalised in pointing out particular countries. It would set a dangerous precedent for us as a nation to go so far as to name the protagonists in a motion passed in the Oireachtas.