Reports about Government in-fighting over supposed plans to introduce restrictive abortion legislation have ![\"\"](\"/wp-content/uploads/2014/11/abortion.jpg\")
been dismissed as “face-saving wrangling” by the Pro Life Campaign.
Draft legislation is set to come before the Cabinet today, with reports suggesting that Labour are unhappy that agreement between the Coalition parties has not yet been reached.
Health Minister James Reilly yesterday denied reports that the Government\’s proposed abortion legislation would require a panel of six doctors, comprising two obstetricians and four psychiatrists, to decide whether abortions would take place.
His comments came after suggestions of a split between the coalition parties over the issue. Labour TDs were reportedly unhappy with the six doctor proposal.
However, PLC spokesperson Caroline Simons said that it was “all but irrelevant how many psychiatrists or obstetricians are on the panel that decides when a baby’s life can be ended”.
She said: ““If there are any difficulties in government in reaching agreement on abortion legislation, they stem from the fact that Fine Gael capitulated to the Labour Party last December when they agreed to introduce abortion on the grounds of threatened suicide.
“The real issue here is that X Case legislation would for the first time permit the direct targeting of the lives of unborn children, including in threatened suicide situations even though all of the research to date shows that abortion is not a treatment for suicidal feelings.
“It was entirely predictable that the Labour Party would criticise any legislation as too restrictive. It is also highly likely that Labour will give some ground to Fine Gael on this but any compromise will be meaningless as the right to life will already have been conceded.
“Once the legislation is passed, the Labour Party and others will continue to ridicule the law and call it unworkable knowing that abortion is now permissible and that it is only a matter of time before the grounds are widened.
“Rather than facilitating this smokescreen, the Fine Gael party needs to challenge Labour over the justification of proceeding with abortion legislation on grounds of threatened suicide when the research shows that abortion is not an appropriate treatment for suicidal ideation and has potential to cause severe adverse mental health consequences for women.”
A number of Fine Gael TDs and Senators remain firmly opposed to the Government’s expressed strategy of giving legal clarity on abortion in cases where the mother’s life is at risk.