Louth's Peter Fitzpatrick claims new abortion legislation 'is too extreme'

Louth Independent TD Peter Fitzpatrick has issued a lengthy statement today, criticising the new abortion legislation that is currently being discussed in the the Seanad for being "too extreme", and saying that he believes the public were misled during the campaign to remove the eighth amendment to the constitution.

In his statement, Deputy Fitzpatrick says that "On 25th May, the people voted to remove the Eighth Amendment from the Constitution. They did not vote for the extreme law the Government is now introducing."

Fitzpatrick says that "during the referendum campaign, Simon Harris and other government ministers kept presenting the referendum proposal as a proposal that would only introduce abortion in limited circumstances."

He goes on to say that, "there was very little discussion on how extreme the proposal was and the fact that it allows abortion unrestricted in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. In most countries, a reason has to be given such as a health reason, but not in Ireland under this new law.

"I’m not trying to rerun the referendum campaign but it is important to point some of these things out because I genuinely believe the public were misled. It may take time for people to see that but from my knowledge of what has happened; the law coming in is very, very extreme."

Deputy Fitzpatrick continues as follows:

"I accept the referendum result and so do my colleagues in the Dáil who also proposed amendments to the abortion bill.

"The reason we proposed amendments was to make the law a little bit more respectful and dignified towards the unborn babies who are going to be aborted or who have just been aborted.

"If our amendments had been accepted unborn babies, for example, would have been given pain relief before late term abortions. I find it really hard to believe that the Government actually turned down an amendment as reasonable and respectful as that.

"My own view is that by accepting these amendments the Government would be admitting how extreme their new law was and they don’t want to admit that in public.

"I would never have opposed the referendum if I thought that doing so would put women’s lives at risk but I know the stance I took didn’t. It is never too late to say it that Ireland before the Eighth Amendment was removed was one of the safest countries in the world in which to be pregnant. That was extremely important for me and it’s why I felt comfortable and at ease voting No in the referendum.

"With the Eighth Amendment now gone, unborn babies have no Constitutional protection. That left the door open to the Government to bring in such a radical and extreme law.

"Again, the amendments we proposed were very reasonable. In addition to offering pain relief to an unborn baby during a late-term abortion, we sought an amendment that would have ensured babies born alive after surviving an abortion would be given medical care rather than left in a corner alone to die. We put forward this amendment as a result of what has happened in other countries like England where in one year alone, 66 babies were left to die alone after being born alive in failed abortions.

"We proposed another amendment to ensure an ultrasound would take place prior to an abortion and that the woman would be offered an opportunity to look at it if she wanted to. The reason for this amendment was twofold.

"First, it is good healthcare to perform an ultrasound to see what stage the pregnancy is at and doing the ultrasound could help protect the health of the mother. It is something that many doctors called for. And secondly, we heard many personal stories in the Dáil from women and parents who said they changed their mind and didn’t go for an abortion once they saw the ultrasound of their baby.

"So it was a very reasonable amendment to put forward. I stress again that the amendment wouldn’t have forced any woman to look at the ultrasound but it was an option that would have saved some lives if it had been adopted but the Government wouldn’t accept it. They decided instead to attack and misrepresent us for putting it forward which is most unfair.

"Another amendment we put forward was to ensure freedom of conscience protections for all healthcare workers – doctors, nurses, midwives, medical students etc. so they would not be forced to facilitate abortions. Our amendments were rejected and as a result it has left hundreds if not thousands of healthcare workers extremely upset and worried over what they are going to be pressured to do when the new law comes in.

"The Government is effectively bullying these hard-working doctors, mostly GPs, to be involved in something they don’t want to do, which is end the life of another human being.

"When people voted in the referendum, I don’t believe they voted in favour of pressuring doctors to do what they morally feel they cannot do. An opinion poll by Amárach Research since the referendum shows that the vast majority of people are opposed to forcing doctors to be involved in abortions against their conscience.

"Minister Harris and others in government keep saying that freedom of conscience is protected in the new law. The facts are it isn’t. The wording of the bill forces doctors to facilitate and arrange for an abortion to take place if they themselves don’t wish to perform it.

"So in other words, they must facilitate and oversee that the abortion happens. That is not protecting freedom of conscience. It is forcing healthcare workers to ensure that something they deeply oppose happens nonetheless with their full cooperation and assistance. That is a terrible burden for any law to place on a person.

"The Government refused our amendment that would have addressed the issue and taken away the obligation from doctors to have to oversee and facilitate abortions taking place.

"Most people are unaware that the definition of an abortion in the bill is a “procedure which is intended to end the life of a foetus.

"The intention here could not be clearer. It is not about healthcare. It is about legalising procedures that have one single purpose and that is to end the life of a new, unique and vulnerable unborn baby.

"I find it hard to believe that Simon Harris never met with representatives of the 640 GPs who raised serious concerns about the Government’s abortion bill over the past month or so.

"From early in the New Year, these doctors will be forced to facilitate abortions under the new law and yet none of them were ever consulted beforehand by the minister or his representatives. When they tried to raise concerns they were dismissed out of hand. I feel very sorry for these doctors many of whom I have met. It is very unjust what is happening to them.

"Before the referendum, Minister Harris gave another cast iron guarantee that the new abortion law would expressly prohibit abortion on grounds of disability, for example, where a baby is detected with Down Syndrome. But nowhere in the abortion bill does it prohibit abortion on these grounds.

"The fact that it is not mentioned means that nothing stands in the way of abortions happening where the baby has Down syndrome or is suspected of having it. The amendment we put forward would have addressed this but Simon Harris didn’t want to know.

"And when we proposed an amendment to ensure that the remains of aborted babies are interred with dignity and respect, we were misunderstood and misrepresented by some.

"What we were proposing in this amendment was strictly to do with abortions that would take place in a hospital setting. These would be surgical abortions.

"Our amendment would have ensured that doctors in these situations would be obliged to dispose of the remains of the babies in a dignified way. Our amendment never ever put that obligation on the mother and I want to stress that. Nothing we proposed was intended in any way to add to the distress of the mother.

"We are taking away all protections from unborn babies and are headed down the road of legalised abortion at the very time that other countries are starting to reconsider and regret what legalised abortion has done to their countries."