The all-party Committee on the Constitution has proposed a £50m programme over ten years to deal with crisis pregnancies which result in Irish women having abortions in England. But the committee failed to reach agreement on how to deal with the substantive issue of abortion following the Supreme Court judgement in the "X" case. The committee was given the task of examining seven options outlined in the Government Green Paper on abortion and coming up with recommendations.
However, in its 700-page report published this afternoon, the committee said that none of the Green Paper options commanded unanimous support. All the parties agreed on the need for significant new measures to reduce the number of crisis pregnancies that result in women travelling to Britain for an abortion.
The Pro-Life campaign has given a cautious welcome to the Fianna Fáil strategy on abortion as detailed in the report of the all-party Committee on the Constitution. Its spokesperson, Dr Berry Kiely, said tonight that it appeared to contain the basis for a satisfactory resolution of the issue. She described the Fianna Fáil approach as representing an opportunity to restore legal protection to the unborn, as well as putting forward practical social and economic supports for women in crisis pregnancies. Fianna Fáil, along with Fine Gael and Labour, has backed proposals for a £50 million programme to deal with crisis pregnancies.
Earlier, the Taoiseach told the Dáil that there “will or could” possibly be legislation arising from the Cabinet sub-committee's examination of the report on abortion. Mr Ahern was replying to questions from the Labour leader, Ruairí Quinn, on the publication today of the all-party committee on the Constitution’s report.
Under an old British law, abortion has been illegal in Ireland since 1861. In 1973, after the US Supreme Court legalised abortion, some in Ireland began to worry that our Supreme Court might do the same. In 1982, the Pro-Life Amendment Campaign secured promises from both Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael to hold a referendum to insert a ban on abortion in our Constitution. In November that year, two days before Charles Haughey's second government collapsed, he announced the wording of his proposed amendment, which was eventually put to the people in the first abortion referendum: "The State acknowledges ...[and] vindicates that right."
The Fine Gael Attorney General at the time of the 1983 referendum, Peter Sutherland, sounded the warning that “there are considerable uncertainties about how it will be interpreted”. The obstetrician Dr George Henry echoed his warning about future pitfalls. The amendment was carried by a majority of two to one. The late Brendan Shorthall of the Pro-Life Amendment Campaign was pleased with the result. In 1988, the Supreme Court outlawed giving information about foreign abortion services, a ban that was rejected in 1992 by the European Court of Human Rights.
In 1992, the Supreme Court delivered a landmark ruling in the X case. A 14-year-old was raped by an adult, but was prevented by the courts from travelling abroad for an abortion. On appeal, a Supreme Court majority ruled that it was lawful for her to have an abortion, because she had threatened to commit suicide if compelled to bring her pregnancy to full term.
Abortion became lawful where it was necessary to avert a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother. Later in 1992, in the second abortion referendum, the electorate voted against the then Taoiseach Albert Reynolds' proposal to stop women using the threat of suicide in order to legitimise abortion. Mr Reynolds also proposed two more constitutional amendments, which were carried. One guaranteed the right of the citizen to travel abroad and the other empowered the State to regulate the provision of information about foreign legal abortion services. Three years later, despite opposition from Bertie Ahern, Michael Noonan steered through laws on both travel and information. In 1997, Mr Ahern promised to hold a new referendum.
Months after Mr Ahern took office, the High Court applied the X ruling when allowing a 13-year-old rape victim travel abroad for a termination. She was judged to be at risk of committing suicide. Most abortions carried out on Irish women would be illegal if done here, yet one in ten pregnancies in the Republic ends in foreign abortion clinics. The current Government prepared a Green paper on Abortion, which was referred in turn to the all-party Committee on the Constitution, which has heard from over 50 groups during eleven full days of public hearings. Mr Ahern's administration depends on four Independents who have been pressing for a referendum. Tánaiste Mary Harney is expected to heavily influence the deliberations of the committee. She has said that she does not want another bitter and divisive referendum.
