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Ireland's political and cultural magazine
— April – May 2013
I
N the aftermath of Savita Halappanavar’s
tragic death in Galway University Hospital
last November, the government took the
long overdue decision to legislate for the X
case and provide for the circumstances in which
abortion may be carried out to save women’s lives.
This legislation will also implement the European
Court of Human Rights judgment against Ireland
in the ABC case, in which a woman denied
a potentially life-saving abortion in Ireland suc-
cessfully argued that the unavailability of access
to lawful abortion breached her rights under the
European Convention.
The report of the government-appointed
expert group on abortion law, published last
November, formed the basis for extensive hear-
ings on abortion held by the Oireachtas Health
Committee in early January. The overwhelm-
ing majority of doctors and psychiatrists who
testified agreed that legislation is essential, in
accordance with the X case, to give women access
to life-saving abortions. Compelling evidence
was given, in particular by the Master of the
National Maternity Hospital, who spoke of the
chilling effect that current abortion law has on
the practice of obstetricians. Notably, they face
prosecution under legislation for carrying
out abortion. Any new legislation must repeal or
amend the criminal law on abortion to clarify the
situation for doctors.
It was extremely frustrating to hear the
testimony of the male religious leaders – partic-
ularly the Catholic representatives – who in their
evidence before the hearings simply refused to
accept that abortion should ever be legal, even
to save the life of a raped and suicidal child like
the young girl in the X case. It was extraor-
dinary to hear religious representatives at the
hearings speaking about “compassion”, when
they seem to have no feeling at all for girls in that
appalling situation, or for the many women who
have been forced to travel to England to terminate
pregnancies involving fatal foetal abnormalities,
because doctors are forbidden from carrying out
abortions here, even where there is no chance of
a baby being born alive.
It was very welcome that the independent
legal experts who gave evidence before the Health
Committee hearings all agreed it would be possi-
ble within the current terms of our Constitution to
include provision in legislation to allow for termi-
nations of pregnancy where the foetus would not
be capable of surviving outside the womb.
It shouldn’t have needed the tragic death of
Savita Halappanavar to bring home to us how
important this legislation is for the lives of women
and girls. But it is a pity that the legislation could
not also cover other situations - like cases of fatal
foetal abnormalities. Many others who testified
before the Oireachtas hearings also suggested
that we should be able to legislate for abortion
where a pregnancy poses a risk to a woman’s
health or where a woman has been raped or is a
victim of incest. Public opinion polls show that
a majority of Irish people believe women should
have access to legal abortion in those circum-
stances at least. However, legislation on those
grounds would not be possible within the terms
of the constitutional amendment which
gives the ‘unborn’ an equal right to life with that
of the pregnant woman.
The amendment will have to be repealed,
because, with its deeply flawed wording, it has
created the legal quagmire of our current abor-
tion law. It has prevented us from passing rational
and reasonable laws on abortion like almost every
other European country. Despite its sanctimoni-
ous words about the “right to life of the unborn”,
it has not stopped over , women from
travelling to England for abortion over the last
thirty years.
The Expert Group report sets out a clear
blueprint for the legislation. It suggests that two
doctors of relevant specialities should be required
to verify “real and substantial risk to life” aris-
ing from a woman’s physical condition or from
risk of suicide (as in the X case). It emphasises
the need to ensure that an effective and acces-
sible procedure is put in place to enable women
to have life-saving abortions here, in line with
the European Court of Human Rights judgment
against Ireland in the ABC case.
We can expect to see the Heads of a Bill some
time in April. If the procedure provided for in the
draft Bill is unduly cumbersome, for example by
requiring an excessive number of doctors to ver-
ify risk to life in each case, then the legislation
would not be in compliance with the ABC judg-
ment. Similarly, a right of appeal for any woman
denied access to life-saving abortion must be
readily available in emergencies. Once these
issues are resolved we must then begin to face
the broader reality. Our highly restrictive and out-
dated laws on abortion are failing thousands of
women every year, , last year alone, who
are faced with a crisis pregnancy and who travel
to England to terminate that pregnancy. We need
to stop the hypocrisy and stop pretending there
is no abortion in Ireland. We need to admit the
need to change our Constitution, update our laws
and respect the real reproductive-health needs of
Irish women.
Scrub 1983 hypocrisy
senator ivana bacik
We should be able to
legislate for abortion where
a pregnancy poses a risk to
a woman’s health or where a
woman has been raped or is
a victim of incest, or in case
of fatal foetal abnormalities
opinion
The fundamental problem is the 1983
amendment has not stopped over
150,000 women travelling to England
for abortions
Savita with her husband,
Praveen, Halappanavar
