Dr Leo Varadkar, a medical doctor and a member of Fine Gael (one of the opposition parties in the Irish Parliament), was interviewed recently in relation to his life and outlook on life generally. [Dr Varadkar’s father is Hindu and his mother Catholic, and he was reared as a Catholic.]
When, during the course of the interview, it was put to him that his views on a number of controversial issues – such as abortion – were quite ‘black and white’, Dr Varadkar is reported as saying the following:
‘I would accept a lot of Catholic social teaching. I’m not a practising religious person, but I would accept that. I wouldn’t be in favour of abortion. The only thing that would be a grey area is if there’s a genuine threat or risk to the life of the mother.’ He said that he wouldn’t be in favour of abortion in the case of rape – ‘…it isn’t the child’s fault that they’re the child of rape. You can say the same thing about disabled children. You know, some people would make that argument in favour of abortion. It’s not their fault they’re disabled. I wouldn’t be in favour of it in those circumstances either. Even, how would that work practically? Would someone have to prove that they’ve been raped? I think where that’s been brought in in countries it has more or less led to abortion on demand. … ’
