Fine Gael Minister for European Affairs Lucinda Creighton,
following unsuccessful attempts to have the Government “Protection of Life in
Pregnancy Bill amended, finally voted yesterday against her own Government
Party. In so doing Minister Creighton was automatically expelled from the Fine
Gael parliamentary party and had to relinquish her European Affairs Ministry.
Speaking during the two-day debate on the 165 amendments
tabled in relation to the bill Minister Creighton, prior to voting against the
measure, told the Dail “the consequences of the legislation are not
reversible”. She said the consequences will “change the culture of our country
and change how we deal with vulnerable women”. Creighton also appealed to
Health Minister James Reilly, asking him to “please listen to the evidence
which had been put forward by medical experts during the recent Oireachtas
hearings and she asked “please let’s not enshrine flawed logic, flawed
legislation on our statue books”.
At the end of her speech she asked Minister Reilly to accept
her amendment calling for a clinical care pathway for vulnerable women who are
feeling suicidal.
She continued: “Why are we insisting that abortion, which
has no medical grounding, is going to be enshrined in our statue book as the
only treatment for women who find themselves in that desperate place?”. I am lost for words because I cannot understand why this
proposal is being insisted upon by you and your Government.
Creighton said that while she supports the overall intention
of the legislation, which is supposed to be about protecting and saving the
lives of women and babies, she said she “cannot support a clause that is
essentially built on sand”, referring to section 9 of the bill, which covers
suicide.
She alleged this legislation ignores a very recent court
case where a woman sought that her deportation order would be quashed on the
grounds that if she were to be deported she would take her own life.
When the High Court dealt with the case, Mr Justice Hanna
said in his judgement:
“To permit the threat of suicide to act as a stop on the
execution of administrative decisions, such as deportation, would be to open a
Pandora’s box of potential abuse with the possible effects of paralysing
administrative activity in any given area of government.”
Creighton said that to not allow the deportation in this
case, but to allow abortion due to the threat of suicide “is entirely
inconsistent”.
Ms Creighton had previously expressed the opinion recently
that failure to vindicate the life of the unborn could invalidate the
legislation “I think the legislation could be struck down for not including a
way to vindicate the life of the unborn.” She added her personal conviction
that any legislation arising from the Bill should contain amendments
guaranteeing constitutional protections for both mother and unborn child.
