Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thought long and hard before coming here to speak tonight. I speak as the brother of eight sisters, the son of a mother, the husband of a wife and the father of a daughter. I see it has gone viral already that while my colleague, Senator Kelleher, was speaking, I tried to shut her up.

I do not know anyone in the world who is not pro-life. Every single one of us cherishes life and cherishes the lives that come into this world. We had a debate here some time ago on an RTÉ documentary about mother and baby homes. The following morning, a woman - a girl I knew growing up - rang me. I had known that she had been pregnant as a teenager and that she had left Galway to have her child in peace and quiet. I thought she had gone to a family; that is what we were told at the time. This girl did not go to a family, however; she went to one of these homes. I have spoken to her many times since that documentary and the pain, hurt and sense of betrayal and injustice that comes from that woman is heartbreaking to listen to. Then this debate on the repeal of the eighth amendment started. As someone with a constitutionally established position in the Seanad, I support the right of the Constitution to determine where we go in this country. Therefore, I support the right of the people to have a vote on repealing the eighth amendment. The people will decide what way that goes.

Since it was announced, I have been inundated with messages, whether text messages, via Twitter and Facebook, and on postcards. One thing that shocks me is that the majority of them come from men, the same men who made these girls pregnant years ago and deserted them the moment they became pregnant. They left the unborn child to be carried to birth, such as that poor girl who had to hand up their child and have it exported to the United States or handed over to someone else for adoption. They are the same men who live respectable lives today as professionals, farmers, teachers, doctors or whatever, who abandoned their own children and the girls they got pregnant, had them branded as some sort of harlot in the town, and walked away, still respectable.

Why do I stand here today? I support the referendum and the right of the people to make the decision they wish to make. I stand here because my colleague, Senator Catherine Noone, got an unmerciful time from social media over recent days. To these clowns who send me and others messages - they are on both sides - and to people who exploit photographs of foetuses in an effort to drive home a message, I say, "Do not send them to me". The woman who works in my office does make decisions and she does not deserve that.