The Attorney General has said the Government's referendum proposals on abortion will appeal to people in the middle ground, between the pro-choice and pro-life extremes. Michael McDowell said that if passed, the proposals would bring closure to 20 years of failure by the Oireachtas to legislate on the issue.
With 31 days to go before polling in the abortion referendum, the author of the Government's proposals, Michael McDowell, took to the airwaves today to urge a yes vote. "The first thing I would ask people to do is to read the legislation," he said.
He predicted that a consensus would emerge around the issue. "I think this proposal will appeal to the 80% which is the middle ground between extreme pro-choice and the extremists on the other side," said the Attorney General.
Not surprisingly, the Attorney General's comments did not find favour with pro-choice activists in the Alliance for a No Vote. Cathleen O'Neill from the Alliance said, "I am really disgusted that this legislation is going ahead...this is not the legislation we were promised in '92. We will have the most repressive abortion legislation in Europe if this is passed."
But the Alliance believes the No vote can win. "I have an idea that we will slip it through by a small majority. Afterwards we will be campaigning for more choice, not less," said Ms O'Neill.
The referendum takes place in just over a month's time, on 6 March. Between now and then, both sides will be trying to win over voters in that all-important middle ground, who will decide whether or not the Government's proposals are accepted.
