PR: Brian Lenihan refuses to guarantee no repeat of Green Paper interference
29.03.2000
On 5th March, 2000, an article in the 'Sunday Tribune' alleged that former Minister of Health, Brian Cowen, unduly interfered with the operation of the Interdepartmental Working Group on abortion. Public knowledge of the fact that there were over 10,000 submissions favouring a total prohibition of abortion as against only 50 which were subdivided into the six other options was suppressed. As reported in the same article, the Minister sought to place equal emphasis and credibility on options supported by almost no-one in order to create an impression that either legislation for the X judgment, or a referendum on some slight limitation of it, represented a middle ground and a reasonable compromise. In light of these revelations, Youth Defence condemn as indefensible the alleged actions of the former Minister in relation to his interference in a process which called for consultation with members of the public.
An article appearing in the 'Sunday Independent' on 19th March, 2000, made another striking revelation by reporting on the figures of the recent White Paper submissions. The results: more than 99% of the 105,000 submissions favour either a total constitutional ban, or a referendum, or both.
To-day, Youth Defence staged a protest outside the offices of the All-Party Committee on Abortion to remind our government representatives of their duty to the public with whom they allegedly wish to "consult" -- 99% of whom, in their submissions, call for a referendum.
In an interview, the Chairman of that Committee, Mr. Lenihan, refused to guarantee that there would not be similar interference from the government in the drafting of the White Paper, though fellow Committee member Liz McManus did say that she would bring up the issue of Minister Cowen's interference during question time. Youth Defence see this forthcoming clarification of the allegations of undue interference as imperative, as this so-called "consultative" process has been made an utter sham by the Fianna Fail government
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