The Government says it hopes the Green Paper on abortion, published this morning, will lead to a better understanding of the issues involved.
In a statement, it said that it wished to see the broadest possible consensus on the matter, with all sides to the debate coming to a clearer understanding of each other's point of view. The Government hope is that, by setting out the options, the debate will not be characterised with the previous acrimony that that marked the referenda on abortion in 1983 and 1992.
The Government also said it was conscious that while much of the debate focussed on Constitutional and legal issues, almost 6,000 Irish women had abortions in England and Wales last year. It said that it was committed to a programme to combat the incidence of crisis pregnancy and to seek to reduce the number which ended in abortion.
Among the options put forward by the Government in its 170-page document are: an absolute ban on abortion; a constitutional amendment to restrict the application of the X case; the retention of the status quo with a legislative restatement of the prohibition on abortion; and the permitting of abortion on grounds beyond those specified in the X case. The Green Paper will now be considered by the Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution before any further action is taken. There is no deadline on the length of time that the All-Party Committee is being given to consider the Green Paper.
The Committee, which is chaired by the Fianna Fáil TD, Brian Lenihan, is likely to engage in a thorough consultation process, which will include public hearings and the taking of submissions. When the committee has ended its deliberations it will report back to the Government with its findings.
