The Government will not accept amendments to the forthcoming abortion legislation which seek to stipulate that disability is prohibited as a ground for abortion. The amendments are being proposed by some Fianna Fail and Independent TDs so as to protect disabled children who might be aborted under the 12 weeks on request ground, or the risk of serious harm to health ground that allows abortion up to 24 weeks. Some in Government appear to think that the draft legislation already includes a clause that specifically excludes abortion on the grounds of disability, and this point was made by Minister Finian McGrath on RTE Radio 1’s News at One on Monday. However, the published heads of the bill make no mention of any such exclusion, thereby allowing the possibility of disabled babies being aborted under one of the stated grounds.

Nonetheless, Government sources have told the Irish Times that they will oppose any amendments that would narrow the scope of abortion in the published Heads of the Bill. However, an unnamed spokesperson did say that “the Government has always said that disability of the foetus will not be accepted as a threat to the mother’s health. It is intended to set this out in clinical guidelines, rather than in primary legislation.”