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What the people want
What the polls say: "Protect the embryo"
The majority of Irish people want our laws to protect the human embryo, and to ban lethal experiments on human life. Successive opinion polls have shown that this majority is growing: a 2010 Millward Brown poll showed that 59% of Irish people wanted the embryo protected in law, as against just 12% who disagreed.
In fact, when the don't knows were excluded, a huge majority - 83% of those who expressed an opinion - want legal protection for human embryo.
The polls are reflective of our experiences on the ground. Since 2001, we've run a major campaign on embryonic stem cell research almost every year, and, as public awareness on the issues grows, the desire to protect the human embryo increases. Significantly, the percentage of people saying they 'don't know' on this issue has fallen steadily - from 39% in 2005 to 29% in 2010, a clear indication that the information campaigns are hitting home.
How the people voted
Article 6 of the Constitution declares that all judicial power comes from the people. That means that the people of Ireland, when asked, are the highest court in the land.
In the 2002 referendum the Government & Oireachtas asked the people of Ireland to define the word 'unborn' in Article 40.3.3 of the constitution - the pro-life amendment. The definition offered by the government limited the 'unborn' - and therefore constitutional protection of the unborn - to those human beings who had been implanted in the womb of a woman.
The proposal was clearly designed to ensure the human embryo would not be entitled to protection from the moment life his/her life began, at conception, paving the way for embryo research and destruction.
The people of Ireland voted No to the proposal.
By voting No, the people were acting not just in a legislative capacity by rejecting a change in the law, but also in a judicial capacity by rejecting the legal interpretation of 'unborn' included in the referendum.
Yet, in the recent RvR ('frozen embryos' case) the Supreme Court decided that the 'unborn' only referred to the baby in the womb. The ruling was not only illogical, it sought to overturn the wishes of the people.
Using the rulings of the High Court and Supreme Court in order to justify legislating for destructive embryo research makes as much sense as using a district court decision to set aside a decision of the Supreme Court. The people are sovereign. We must decide.
