A Fianna Fáil TD has changed his mind about supporting abortion legislation going through the Oireachtas. Marc MacSharry had said after the referendum result that he would support the proposed legislation but he announced in the Dáil yesterday,“I am not sure that I can do so”.

His change of heart came “out of fear, quite frankly”. The Sligo-Leitrim TD said “I fear that this will become the contraceptive of choice for people down the line; not today, next week or even next year, but in time. Abortion will become something that is the norm rather than for the hard cases. That is a concern for me.”

The Minister for Health berated him in a scolding response from across the floor of the Dáil.  “Unfortunately some people talking about the issue in this House are using language that gives an insight to a mindset that is worrying”, said the Minister.

Such talk showed a “lack of understanding of the very difficult decision-making process a woman goes through before accessing termination. To equate in any way termination to contraception shows a fundamental lack of respect for women. It also shows a fundamental lack of understanding about termination and contraception.”

Meanwhile, another Fianna Fáil TD Eamon Ó Cuív told the Minister he should correct the use of the term “pregnant woman” that appears in the Bill, because “we have various genders and transgender” and the term was out of line with other legislation.