The Government won the latest vote on the abortion bill by
33 votes to 14 rejecting all opposition attempts to remove the section
allowing abortion on the grounds of suicide from the proposed legislation.
Interestingly the numbers imply that there were 12 abstentions as there are
currently 59 Senators , Dr Martin McAleese having resigned
Having disposed of the committee stage of the abortion bill,
the Seanad is due to discuss the report and final stage of the bill next Monday
and Tuesday. The bill is then due to go to President Michael D Higgins either
for signature into Irish law or referral to the Supreme Court to test its
constitutionality.
There was major controversy during the debate where Fianna
Fail Senators Jim Walsh and Brian O Domhnaill gave graphic descriptions of some
abortion methods.
Walsh described a late-term abortion could involve the
baby's legs being taken out, having a scissors jammed into its skull and a tube
inserted to suck out its brains.
O Domhnaill also read out descriptions of an aborted foetus
being taken apart in the womb and brought out bit by bit.
Needless to say the
pr-abortion lobby and the pro-abortion media were loud in their condemnation
In what seems to be an ever widening rift in Fiann Fail, Party
leader Micheal Martin distanced himself from Walsh and O Domhnaill saying there was a need to show respect
and to avoid the use of emotive and provocative language. "It is a source
of regret that some contributions, including from within my own party, have
fallen short of that standard," he said.
It seems that TD’s and Senators can vote for the killing of
babies but are horrified at the thought of being told how it is done, surely
this is the height of hypocrisy
Health Minister Dr James Reilly insisted that the graphic abortion
methods described by Senator Walsh were not in use and would not be drawn on
the specifics of the methods of termination/abortion permitted.
There was an attempt on the Fine Gael side to claim that the
most gruesome methods were a thing of the past, but Senator Walsh told the
Senate that he had consulted obstetrician-gynaecologists the previous day and
that they agreed with his description.
