OPINION: Abortion referendum threatens to reverse a humane court

DON'T know where, don't know when' may be a line in a song but it could also refer to the referendum on abortion being proposed by the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern.

Neither the Taoiseach nor the Tanaiste are able to confirm when the referendum will take place. And some people suspect the referendum might not take place at all.

So far, only Labour of the political parties have committed ourselves to campaigning against this referendum. In this article I explain why.

First though, it is important to ask why are we having a referendum? It arises from a commitment by the Taoiseach to pro-life groups and the so-called independent TDs to hold a referendum on this issue in the lifetime of this Dail.

The sole purpose of the referendum is to repeal or undo the decision made by the Supreme Court decision in the X case. Everything else being proposed by the Government could be done by simple legislation.

Many of you will remember the X case, but some will not. For many young people this is the first time that they will be asked to vote on this emotive issue.

The X case burst into public attention in 1992 when the Attorney General on behalf of the Government sought a High Court injunction to prevent Miss X from travelling to England for an abortion. Initially he was successful but ultimately the Supreme Court decided that a young girl, pregnant through rape, and in danger of taking her own life, was entitled to an abortion in this State.

In effect the court recognised that a psychological threat to the life of a woman is as great and as important as a physical threat to the life of a pregnant woman.

It is that principle that the Government wants to roll back.

But why should we?

The constitution talks about the equal right to life of the mother and the unborn child. What the Government wants us to do now is to dilute the right to life of the mother.

It is nonsensical in this day and age that a modern Government should be seeking to distinguish to this extent between physical and mental health.

Even the dogs on the street know how closely physical and mental health are related.

That is one of the things we have learned in recent years. Our Government should not be asking us to sweep this issue under the carpet.

Those who remember the X case will probably remember the referendum that followed that court case.

In that referendum another Fianna Fail and Progressive Democrat Government also sought to ask the people to undo the decision of the Supreme Court in relation to the X case.

They asked us to rule out the threat to life from suicide as a ground for abortion.

The people rejected the proposal. They rejected it comprehensively. They refused to exclude suicide as a ground for abortion but the Government now wants them to change their mind.

What the Government is asking the people to do is to forget the X case entirely.

They want us to pretend that hard cases like the X case don't happen and shouldn't be catered for in our laws.

They are wrong. Hard cases do exist. Many of you will remember the C case for instance, another case of a young child who had been raped and was feared to be suicidal.

They want people to forget the complexities of emotions they felt when confronted with that tragic case.

They want people to forget the complexities of parents' feelings when they considered the possibility of their own children being in the same position as Miss X.

We should reject that cynical proposal from the Government.

BUT WHILE Labour will oppose this referendum that does not mean that we are against everything the Government is proposing.

For example, we agree with the proposed new agency to support women with crisis pregnancies.

We recognise too the need for legislation even though we believe putting a full act into the constitution as the Government proposes to do is both bad law and bad politics.

But this is a cynical proposal from the Taoiseach. I predict now that he won't campaign for it in an active way. He will be happy to merely say that he has fulfilled his promise to hold the referendum.

But in doing so he is restricting the rights of women by making a ludicrous distinction between mental and physical wellbeing that has no place in modern society, never mind our constitution.

In itself it will do nothing to impact upon the thousands of Irish women travelling abroad every year for abortions.

This referendum should be defeated.

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