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PR: YD Welcomes Publication
15.11.2000
Youth Defence welcomes the fact that the publication of the All-Party Oireachtais Committees report on abortion brings to an end the interminably long drawn out process. Successive governments have avoided dealing with this issue in the proper democratic way and used the prospect of such reports as a delaying tactic. However, given that it is now more than eight years since the Supreme Courts mis-interpretation of the 1983 Amendment, we would have expected greater clarity in this report.
It is quite shocking that the representatives of the Irish people in the Parliamentary sense were unable to reach a consensus recommendation in spite of the fact that over 70% of those people are clear in their desire for a Pro-Life worded referendum to totally prohibit abortion.
The option of legislating within the terms of the X Case decision which has been reported as the view taken by the Labour Party members is an affront to democracy. Their arrogant intent to place their own bigoted pro-abortion views above the will of the people demands the strongest rejection. In doing so they have made the Labour Party an anti-democratic and anti-Constitutional party.
The option of taking no legal action at all, favoured by Fine Gael, is, we believe, prompted by the divisions within the Fine Gael parliamentary party and is not in any sense their considered opinion. In avoiding taking a clear position, the ultra-Liberal and conservative wings of the party may be temporarily be reconciled, but it remains an essentially cowardly approach. More importantly the long-term effect will be ever-widening grounds for abortion dictated by Court decisions. We would appeal to the Pro-Life members of that Party to distance themselves from this proposal and declare their support for a referendum.
The Fianna Fail supported recommendation, which is also the most likely outcome, given that they are in government, is quite frankly confusing. We would, of course welcome a Constitutional amendment accompanied by legislation to protect current medical practise. That is indeed what we have been calling for over the past eight years and was our submission to the Committee. However the third recommendation insists that what is intended is not a total prohibition of abortion. Yet current medical practise totally prohibits abortion and the medical evidence the Committee heard could not have left them in any doubt about this
The terms in which this option is phrased is unclear, insofar as there is no suggested wording for the Constitutional amendment is spite of the fact that various groups, including Youth Defence provided them with a wording. The best that can be said therefore is that the Fianna Fail position remains unclear.
The proposal as it is phrased in this report could mean anything from a repeat of the 1992 so-called substantive wording to an amendment which would satisfy both the Pro-Life groups and the vast majority of the people. After eight years such a lack of clarity is frankly bizarre though hardly unprecedented. We are forced then to suspend judgement since this report fails to outline the government's intentions. There will be a referendum, it will involve some restrictions on the X judgement. Otherwise we have heard nothing new here.
End
