Cardinal accused of ‘misrepresenting’ abortion position

CLARE Labour Deputy Michael McNamara has accused Cardinal Seán Brady of “misrepresenting” the legal position within which the Oireachtas is required to legislate for a limited form of abortion, as well as the proposed content of this controversial legislation.

 

Cardinal Brady has urged everyone who believes that the right to life is fundamental to tell legislators that no government is entitled to remove that right from an innocent person.

In his Christmas message, the Catholic Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland said there is no more important value than upholding the right to life in all circumstances.

As the Government prepares legislation giving effect to the X case judgement, Dr Brady warned that the Irish people are approaching a defining moment regarding Ireland’s attitude to respect and care for human life.

The death in October of Indian woman Savita Halappanavar, who was 17 weeks pregnant when she died at University College Hospital, Galway, has intensified the debate around abortion. Her family claims she requested an abortion but her requests were turned down on several occasions.

Speaking in the Dáil earlier this year, Justice Minister Alan Shatter said, “We are not considering, in any shape or form, abortion on demand, as is alleged by some. We are not even addressing, nor can we, under the current constitutional provision, issues that many outside this House believe should be addressed.”
Deputy McNamara said it appears Cardinal Brady ignored this statement and chooses to ignore the Constitutional position and resultant proposed legislation.

The Scariff barrister and farmer recalled the Constitutional position was set out clearly by Mr Justice McCarthy in the Supreme Court in the X case, who stated, “The right of the girl here is a right to a life in being; the right of the unborn is to a life contingent; contingent on survival in the womb until successful delivery. It is not a question of setting one above the other but rather of vindicating, as far as practicable, the right to life of the girl/mother, whilst with due regard to the equal right to life of the girl/mother, vindicating, as far as practicable, the right to life of the unborn.”

Last week, the Bishop of Killaloe, Kieran O’Reilly requested the Government to conduct a new referendum, which he believes would bring the required clarity to the Supreme Court decision in the X case.

Bishop O’Reilly also expressed fears that the Government’s decision to introduce legislation on abortion to deal with the X case will ultimately lead to a more liberal regime.

While respecting the right of the Catholic hierarchy to express a view on this matter on their own behalf and on behalf of their religious community, Deputy McNamara stressed there is an onus on them, as well as everybody else, not to misrepresent the content and effect of proposed legislation.

While Deputy McNamara disagreed with Bishop O’Reilly’s call for a new referendum, he acknowledged the Bishop of Killaloe hadn’t misrepresented the content and effect of proposed legislation.

“I think another referendum on abortion is the last thing the country needs right now. However, resulting from the A, B & C v Ireland judgement of December 2010, the Oireachtas has to legislate to clarify the situation in this State and that legislation and subsequent regulations need to be in accordance with our Constitution as it stands and as it has interpreted by the Supreme Court of Ireland.

“Irish people have already voted twice on the suicide issue and decided the provision concerning self-harm should remain,” he said.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Patricia Casey has argued that legislation for suicide risk is not evidence-based and stressed the Government should consult widely on this issue, rather than “railroading” this measure through.
“The proposed legislation will allow the use of an unproven intervention for a rare outcome that is more often incorrectly than correctly predicted but that involves the loss of life to one of the parties,” she said.

Asked about Dr Casey’s views, Deputy McNamara noted this issue has prompted differing opinions amongst psychiatrists.

Speaking in the Dáil recently, Deputy Pat Breen confirmed he has received calls on a daily basis from constituents who hold strong and diverging views and noted legislating for abortion is fraught with confusion.

However, Deputy Breen acknowledged a substantial number of people who contacted him have doubts about making abortion available on the grounds of suicide.

“Everyone wants to ensure where a clear danger to the life of the mother exists, every medical intervention is performed to save her life.

“If further clarity is needed for the medical profession in this regard, it should be provided and clear guidelines issued. However, legislating for abortion on the grounds of suicide is a very different matter. This is a very complex area, with many differing views among the medical experts as to whether it is necessary.

“The suicide rate among women is low and a previous speaker referred to this. It is approximately 4.5 per 100,000 and it is extremely rare for it to occur during pregnancy. According to statistics, between 1980 and 2011, two suicides among women occurred in the three Dublin maternity hospitals, both of which occurred post-delivery.

“One of the women had a long history of depression and the other a long history of substance abuse. It would be virtually impossible to legislate for every eventuality and several questions arise, such as who will determine a woman is suicidal and that her life can be saved by an abortion? Will the view of one psychiatrist be sufficient? Will general practitioners be involved?” he asked.

“Will it require the involvement of a second psychiatrist? Will a panel of experts be involved? There are many questions that need to be asked here. At this stage, I am not convinced that abortion on the grounds of suicide should be part of any legislative solution and I will take a great deal of convincing that legislating in these cases would be watertight so that it would not lead to abortion on demand,” he stated.

Deputy Timmy Dooley stressed he respects the right of people on all sides of the abortion debate, including Cardinal Daly and the Church of Ireland, to express their views on what is a very complex issue.

Acknowledging that the vast majority of people don’t want abortion on demand, Deputy Dooley noted concerns have been expressed that legislating for suicide risk could open up the possibility of a more liberal abortion regime.

He said the exact wording of the legislation will have to be critically analysed by all sections of society to try and come up with the best solution for implementing the X case. He said all options, including the possibility of holding a new referendum, should be considered following an informed debate and after all the relevant issues are fully considered.

Having received a large volume of representations from people with extreme views on the pro-life and pro-choice sides, he noted there are also a considerable number of constituents adopting the middle ground, who feel this issue should be addressed but don’t hold strong views on the best proposal.

Asked about Bishop O’Reilly’s fears that any abortion legislation would lead to requests for a more liberal regime, Deputy Dooley said this is a legitimate concern.

Efforts to contact Deputy Joe Carey proved unsuccessful.