The
Abortion Rights Campaign (ARC) welcomes the Irish government’s initiative in
moving the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill, while noting that the Bill
is over 21 years overdue. Despite a mandate from the European Court of Human
Rights, women in Ireland have been forced to wait unnecessarily while
legislators drag their feet, ignoring the ABC case decision and the results of
two referendum. At last, the pro-choice movement, buoyed by the support from
the people of Ireland, could not be ignored.
Despite the
move to legislate, ARC asserts that the bill is not fit for purpose, nor does
it comply with the ruling that any legal framework for abortion services must include
accessibility. Failure to comply with the European Court of Human Rights
judgement violates women’s rights. Politicians, who otherwise promote the
importance of mental health issues, have absurdly created a traumatising
process of assessment for suicidal pregnant women. The steps involved in
procuring legal termination to save a woman’s health in this Bill do not
constitute accessibility. ARC therefore welcomes the principled stance taken by
a number of pro-choice TDs in voting No to the legislation.
This is
legislation we can’t live with. Provision must be made to allow terminations
for fatal foetal abnormalities. Women and their families, suffering the grief
of knowing their much-wanted pregnancies are incompatible with life, should be
able to avail of medical care in their own country.
ARC are
seriously concerned about the potential outcomes from the criminalising of
women and those who assist them. Women who self-administer the abortion pill,
dissuaded from seeking necessary medical follow-up lest she be prosecuted, will
be denied their basic right to health care. Because of the criminal penalties
outlined in the Bill, a doctor may once again refuse to provide a life saving
abortion because of potential legal sanctions against them. This Bill lacks the
clarity to earn its name.
We now need
to repeal the 8th Amendment to the Constitution which equates the right to life
of a woman to an embryo or foetus, regardless of the woman’s state of health,
regardless of all the other factors which may make it necessary for a woman to
seek an abortion. Consistent opinion polls have shown that access to abortion
is supported by the majority of the Irish people. It is only a matter of time before
free, safe and legal abortion will be available in Ireland.
