Mary Moran (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for attending. To take up the point raised by Senator Brian Ó Domhnaill, he asked about terminations, but the point is that it concerns early delivery. Some 22 years ago I had a child at 28 weeks who lived against the odds. Therefore, it does happen.

This Bill is 21 years late. The current position is unclear and uncertain and the Bill will bring clarity for mothers who are pregnant and the country. I have thought long and hard about the Bill. I have wrestled with my conscience and looked at the pros and cons. I have consulted people with very different opinions and would like to think I have respected both sides of the argument. I respect everyone's decision. We had a clear debate yesterday evening and I am sorry the media picked up on a 30 second jostle rather than what was said in the excellent debate.

As legislators, we have been given a duty to vote on the Bill. It is a decision on which many in this and the Lower House have deliberated long and hard. I approached my decision as a legislator, a woman and as the mother of five children, three of whom are daughters. When I look at it as a mother, if it was one of my children, someone I knew or a pupil I had taught in school who had come to me distraught, I would do everything I could to support her in whatever decision was made.

I doubt whether there is anyone in either House who does not support life. We all support it. This is an extremely sensitive debate involving many difficult decisions for some. The Bill will not change anything in law, a point that has often been lost in the debate. It is doing exactly what it says, legislating for a decision made by the Supreme Court 21 years ago, but it will not change anything. The decision has been kicked down the road by successive Governments. The Bill recognises that we must take our heads out of the sand and deal with the issue of abortion. It will not change the fact that 4,000 people leave the country every year to have an abortion. It will not change the fact that people will continue to seek an abortion in the Unided Kingdom and other countries, but it will protect the life of the mother in the event of a medical emergency or at risk of suicide. I do not believe, as some have argued, that it will open the floodgates to abortion in the country. We had the same argument after the divorce referendum, but that did not happen. The procedures a woman must go through as a result of the legislation, if she is suicidal, will be more rigorous than in going to England.

Some of the comments made about the suicide clause were particularly offensive. We all profess to take the issue of suicide and depression as a serious subject, but some of the comments made in debates, publicly and in the House, show a clear lack of understanding of mental health issues. It is insulting to women to imply that they will claim to be suicidal in order to have a termination. That seriously denigrates mental health issues and implies suicide is not a serious health issue. It takes a backward step from the progress made in recent years. Suicidal ideation is a serious medical condition and every bit as real as any physical symptom and sometimes more real. It can be a hidden illness. I have known people who appeared to be the life and soul of the party, who were always in great form. In the past year someone who was vivacious and full of life committed suicide in the small hours of the morning when alone. We do not know what goes on in people's minds and we do not know how they think, nor should we judge.

While researching for this debate, I came across an unknown case. Three weeks before the tragic death of Savita Halappanavar, a lady who was 38 weeks pregnant with twins took her life two weeks before she was due to deliver. Who can say suicide is not linked with this issue? If the legislation had been in place, perhaps we might have been able to save three lives, instead of a father losing his wife and two children and the children losing their mother and siblings. The Bill will protect the rights of women and give them peace of mind in knowing they will be safe and looked after.

Yesterday comments were made in the House criticising Members for referring to comments made by religious orders prior to the debate. Certain members of the church have been vocal in their condemnation of the Bill and willingly entered the debate and condemned Oireachtas Members.

I am a practising catholic who has listened to both sides of the debate but again last Sunday I was subject to comments such as "Let us pray for those who trample on the life". I support the Bill but I would never trample on anybody's life nor do I like being told by those who oppose it that I will answer for it in the next life or hearing, "Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing". These comments are offensive and they have nothing to do with the debate. The veiled threat of excommunication if one votes in favour of the Bill is difficult to understand. The church says every life is sacred, with which I agree, but what about the children who were abused and who had their innocence robbed by members of the clergy and, worse, had it covered up by other members of clergy? This is completely hypocritical.

I refer to the actions of some of those who claim to be pro-life. Last week, many people on both sides of the debate were outside the gates of Leinster House. I welcome their views and comments and I have read all the letters and postcards during my deliberations. Videos of dead foetuses and posters, which are up all over the country, implying the Bill will open the floodgates to abortion are offensive and untrue. They scare people and sometimes scare innocent children, some of whom were outside the gates late at night last week with their posters. That was nothing short of scaremongering.

The Bill will protect women and give them the right not to be afraid while pregnant. We need to move on and face the fact that women seek abortions. The legislation will not open the floodgates but it will protect the woman whose life is in danger, physically or mentally. Reference has been made to the long history of treating women as second class citizens in this State. There was a time we were forced to give up work when we married. We have also endured the Magdalen Laundries, the symphysiotomy scandal and controversies surrounding contraception and divorce. I recall my mother saying when I was a child that she needed to be churched by a priest every time she had a baby before she was allowed to receive communion again as if having a baby was a sin. Similarly, I have met women who were subjected to the barbaric acts of symphysiotomy and pubiotomy and I am grateful we have come a long way since then.

I have not made my decision lightly. I have thought long and hard and I have consulted many people on both sides. However, this decision must be made by women. We need to protect women and life and this legislation will provide an opportunity to do so.