Kevin Humphreys (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister for Health, Deputy Harris, to the House. I thank him for his leadership and hard work on this issue. It has been difficult and time-consuming. He has certainly travelled a journey because we had earlier discussions on this in the previous Government. I thank Senator Noone and her committee for the excellent work they have done.

We had a conversation in the House earlier about trusting politicians and leadership. I thank Senator Ned O'Sullivan, as well as Deputies Billy Kelleher and Lisa Chambers, for their leadership on the committee when proposing the 12-week clause. It was not easy to show that type of leadership. We owe them a great debt. I also thank Senator Ned O'Sullivan for his contribution that this is not just women's battle but men's because it is ultimately about justice, equality and fairness. That is the battle we have to face.

I was old enough, unfortunately, to vote in 1983, something to which I do not own up to often. It was the time when I got involved in politics because I was not a member of a political party then. I can still recall the wet and miserable evening the vote on the eighth amendment was held. I had a union poster on my front window in Clondalkin asking people to vote against the eighth amendment. It was the only notice in the estate. My wife and I voted quite early and went back home to watch television. Late in the evening, near to the end of voting time, there was a gentle tap on the hall door. When my wife and I went to the door, there were two women from the estate. They asked me if there was a chance for a lift to the polling station, which was further away in Neilstown. I said, "No problem, although the car is not the best but it should get us there". The reason they asked for a lift was because their husbands would not drive them to the polling station as they knew they were voting "No". As the evening went on, I drove quite a few women whose husbands had the same attitude. There was no respect shown by men for women then.Despite what people have said, tens of thousands of women have been damaged by the eighth amendment. They were forced to travel in secrecy and often had to hide their predicament from their families, and at a time when they most wanted to be comforted by their families. The eighth amendment affected many working class people because they often had to travel alone because it was the only way they could afford a procedure. I listened to Senators Kelleher and Bacik and heard how they supported women who travelled by boat and I give the Senators great credit for doing so. The women who chose to travel had to make their journeys in secret and encountered great difficulties. They had to keep their secret close to their hearts and often they could not share it with friends or families, which is a shame on us all.

Senator McDowell said this debate is not going to be easy and I totally agree. We all talk about respect but I know that the many campaigns since 1983 have been difficult. The first campaign for the legalisation of contraception was difficult. People claimed Irish society would be undermined and those of us who supported such legalisation were pilloried in our communities.

We are fortunate to have Senator Norris in this Chamber. The next campaign was the decriminalisation of homosexuality. All of these steps were small but important. Unfortunately, we always had to fight to improve things with one hand tied behind our backs because the other side was not frightened to give misinformation. In fact, on many occasions the other side claimed that this society would suffer hell and damnation.

I was involved in both of the referendums on divorce. I will always remember the misinformation, in particular the posters emblazoned with the slogan "Hello Divorce ... Bye Bye Daddy". I urge Senators to be under no illusion that the same misinformation will not happen this time because it has every single time there has been a referendum. It happened with the X case legislation and I remember the pressure that was put on Senators and Deputies. I compliment the Leader of the House on how he chaired the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children. I thank him for doing so and his efforts are a credit to politicians in general. That legislation on the X case was 20 years in the making. People fought hard for 20 years to get the legislation on the Statute Book.

When the issue of marriage equality was first raised it was laughed at, deemed to be unimportant and, again, a dearth of misinformation was circulated. A battle royal took place and we witnessed great joy when this country voted to introduce marriage equality. Unfortunately, repealing the eighth amendment will be a much more difficult campaign because we will get misinformation like the posters and billboards that displayed the slogan "Hello Divorce ... Bye Bye Daddy". Again, comparisons will be made with what happens in the UK. We have already heard comparisons, in terms of abortion, made about what happens here and what happens in the UK. It is not right to compare the two countries. The facts do not stand up. There has been misinformation and false facts. Irish society is not similar to that of the UK. The figures for abortion rates in the UK do not apply to Ireland. We already have abortion here but it is exported. A woman is often forced to travel alone in order to receive urgent medical treatment. The arguments have not changed. This is an argument about equality, justice, fairness and health care for women and we must keep this debate within those parameters.

When this legislation was referred to this House I found it quite difficult to remain quiet about the inaccurate claims made about Down's syndrome children being aborted. That claim is totally wrong. Nobody has spoken about that.