Minister Katherine Zappone wants the Government to lobby the Catholic Church to extend its social justice teaching to include a right to abortion. At the same time, she rejects attempts by the Church to lobby the Government to abandon its push to repeal the pro-life amendment. She was speaking in the aftermath of formal Church-State talks last week in which a delegation from the Catholic Church met with representatives of the Government at the invitation of the Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar.
Ms Zappone said she wants to see a referendum on the Eighth Amendment as she sees abortion rights as “integral to a social justice agenda”. Then, turning to the Church, she continued:
“The Catholic Church has a very strong social justice tradition, and so I would think that in our negotiations discussion with them we need to draw on that social justice tradition to ensure it extends to women’s ethical choices in relation to their reproductive capacity.”
However, regarding the Church speaking its own mind, she said it should limit itself to speaking only to its own flock.
“I respect the tradition, I think they need to voice their views, but I also believe and know that those views were to influence their own members. They cannot determine the laws of the land,” Ms Zappone said.