Irish woman almost dies from botched abortion: Abortionist struck off

There were various news reports last Saturday on the case of an Irishwoman who was left "fighting for her life" after a botched abortion at London abortion clinic. see this link and this link

The case, which occurred in 2006, emerged as part of a Fitness to Practise Inquiry by the UK General Medical Council into the conduct of a gynaecologist Dr Phanuel Dartey, who was struck off for his treatment of five patients -- including that of the botched abortion -- at the Marie Stopes International Clinic in Ealing.

The inquiry was told that Dartey perforated the uterus of the unidentified Irish woman and left parts of her aborted baby inside her. When she returned to Ireland she was rushed to hospital where she was in a critical condition for two months. It is believed she eventually recovered.

The Ghanaian surgeon, who qualified in the former Soviet Union and did not attend the hearing had no valid medical indemnity insurance at the time.

It is also reported that Marie Stopes Reproductive Choices manager in Dublin, Gabrielle Malone, confirmed that the Ealing clinic was among the recommended facilities on a list given to Irish women seeking pregnancy "counselling". (It should be noted that referral for termination is illegal in Ireland so the fiction of counselling is used by agencies to remain within the letter, if not the spirit of the law .)

Ms Malone also claimed that Marie Stopes clinics had an excellent record and the Dartey case was an isolated one. This claim is in keeping with the notion that abortion where it is legal is supposed to be safe, needless to say it is never safe for the unfortunate baby but in addition such claims are suspect in the light of the generally available evidence but in particular the evidence presented in the European Court of Human Rights, A,B and C v Ireland Case, Grand Chamber Judgement last year, which sets out that the three women in this case all suffered medical complications following abortions in Britain.

According to Ms Malone 498 Irishwomen had abortions at the Ealing centre last year. The number of Irishwomen having abortions in the UK and elsewhere has been falling for nine years, but 4,402 had terminations last year. It would be interesting to discover what percentage of these women suffer some level of medical complications quite apart from the well documented Psychological problems which arise for the vast majority of women who decide to terminate the life of a baby.

Ireland's Universal Periodic Review

Ireland’s first Universal Periodic Review (UPR) took place yesterday at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. Ireland’s Justice Minister, Alan Shatter who represented the Irish Government was questioned on a wide range of issues including Ireland’s pro-life laws. The report of the UPR session will be adopted on Monday next and will be considered by the full council next March. 

In his presentation Minister Shatter told the UN UPR Working Group that the European Court of Human Rights in the A, B & C case found that there was an absence of effective procedures to establish a right to termination in Ireland and that as stated in the national report 

“Ireland is committed to expeditious implementation of the judgment and an expert group will be appointed in November, drawing on appropriate medical and legal expertise with a view to making recommendations to Government on how this matter should be properly addressed.”

During the subsequent session Ireland’s, anti-abortion laws were questioned by delegates from the following countries, Holland, Germany, Slovenia, Norway, Spain and the UK, all of whom, called on Ireland to legislate for abortion. Denmark additionally called for abortion on demand.

Minister Shatter in response to the questions and recommendations on the abortion issue told the meeting that Article 40.3.3 of the Irish Constitution guarantees both the right to life of the unborn with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother and continued by saying that the issue therefore has a constitutional context. He the told the meeting that the Irish Supreme Court in the X case had decided that it was lawful to terminate a pregnancy in Ireland when it is necessary to preserve the life, as distinct from the health of the mother, and that the government would address the issue and meet their obligations. He also told the meeting that the Court in the A, B & C judgment had found that Irish law is in accordance with the European Convention on Human Rights. It was he said the lack of an identifiable procedure that a woman could avail of if her life was genuinely at risk, on which the European Court had ruled

Despite the demand of pro-abortion governments and pro-abortion groups such as  the IFPA Ireland is not obliged to legislate for abortion as a result the recent European Court of Human Rights ruling in the A, B & C case.

It is to be hoped that the expert group to be appointed in November will include pro-life legal and medical advice and will take into account the numerous peer reviewed studies, highlighting the negative consequences of abortion for women, rather than adopting a pro-abortion ideological stance, bearing in mind that Ireland has the lowest level of maternal mortality in the world. In fact Ireland has a much better record of safeguarding the lives of women in pregnancy than any of the countries that challenged the Irish laws on abortion.

New Threat to Ireland's Pro Life position from Council of Europe

Council of Europe Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg during his visit to Dublin last week demanded that the Irish Government should respond to the decision of the European Court of human Rights decision and legislate for the introduction of abortion in Ireland.

The following press release by Dana Rosemary Scallon challenges Hammarberg's demands

Council of Europe Commissioners should keep out of Irish Constitutional affairs and mind their own business. 

Commissioner Hammarberg, while visiting here last week, demanded that the Labour / Fine Gael government legislate for abortion. His meeting was hosted, according to reports, by Labour leader and Tánaiste, Eamon Gilmore; Fine Gael’s Minister for Justice Alan Shatter and was also attended by members of some chosen groups.

It is not the job of Council of Europe Commissioners to act as tourists going around Europe promoting abortion. An unelected Commissioner has no right to bully and intimidate the Irish people or seek out politicians who would provide an “open door” for their agenda.

Both Minister for Justice Alan Shatter and Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore must know full well that last year’s ECHR opinion is not binding on Ireland. The question is why did they not tell him so?    Also why did they miss the opportunity to tell him that the Irish people, as Ireland’s Attorney General has previously stated, have spoken in 3 referenda rejecting abortion?”

 Regardless of their own personal opinions it is a duty of Ministers to represent the democratic views of the Irish people. We are a Sovereign Nation and the people, under Ireland’s Constitution, make all decisions relating to this matter.

We are dealing with nothing more than an opinion of the European Court which has no legal authority and whose decision is not binding on Ireland. An Taoiseach Mr. Enda Kenny must tell the Council of Europe Commissioner that this matter can only be decided on by the Irish people and that he will also uphold his election promise not to legislate for abortion.

New attack on unborn life in Ireland by non governmental organisations supported by Labour Minister of State

According to an Irish Times report  the new Irish Government Cabinet has discussed the possibility of amending Ireland’s abortion laws in support of which they quote the new Minister of State for Disability, Equality and Mental Health, Kathleen Lynch. See Irish Times article

Ms Lynch yesterday launched a new report which called for the immediate enactment of legislation “to clarify the circumstances under which an abortion may be lawful”. The Your Rights. Right Now report, produced by a coalition of 18 non-governmental organisations and trade unions, said the Government should address the recommendations of the European Court of Human Rights in 2010 and the Constitutional Review Group in 1996.

“I do know that this issue has been discussed already in Cabinet, because at the end of the day we have a High Court, Supreme Court judgment coming down the tracks at us,” Ms Lynch said.

This new attack on unborn life is extremely serious in that it is backed by a Minister of State. It is also a very one sided report in that it fails to acknowledge the importance of the right to life of the unborn and that the report in question is not the only one. The Ministers  statement and the Irish Times article completely ignore the fact that a large number of pro-life organisations have also lodged reports with the Irish Government in preparation for the UN Universal periodic review which will take place later this year.

 

Major Pro Life Initiative Challenges all of Ireland's Political Leaders

As a direct result of the grave new threats to unborn  babies in Ireland in the wake of the recent European Court decision on the A,B and C case, an all Ireland group over thirty pro-life organisations came together with former MEP's Kathy Sinnott and Dana Rosemary Scallon to proclaim and defend the absolute right to life of the unborn. The group challenged Eamonn Gilmore's and the Labour party support for abortion and demanded that all the main party leaders sign a pledge that they will in Government uphold the right to life from conception to natural death. They also demanded that the existing Irish Constitution be protected, despite the fact that Labour and some of the other parties wish to write a new constitution. The new umbrella group Ireland United for life issued the following press release.

pictured at the press reception (from left Patrick Buckley ELN, Bernie Smith Precious Life, Kathy Sinnott, Dana Rosemary Scallon, Liam Gibsonn SPUC Northern Ireland

 Ireland United for Life, an alliance of over thirty cross community groups together with Dana Rosemary Scallon and Kathy Sinnott,  is calling on the political parties to clarify their respective positions on legislation for abortion arising from the recent judgment of the European Court of Human Rights. The Constitutional right of the Irish people to decide on Ireland’s unique pro-life status must not be usurped by the opinion of unelected judges from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), who neither respect nor represent the consistently-stated views of the Irish people with regard to abortion.[1]

No Irish political party has the right to legislate for abortion.[2]

Eamon Gilmore T.D. has made abortion a vital election issue, by stating that the Labour Party, if it forms part of the next government, will push for legislation to introduce abortion.[3]

Fine Gael does not want to make this subject an election issue and is evading the question but has stated that they will, “establish an all party committee to consider the implications of the ECHR ruling, to make recommendations respecting the range of sincerely held  views on the matter”. The electorate needs to know whether Fine Gael will move to introduce legislation for abortion, or concede to a coalition partner that is pushing for legislation facilitating it.

To date, Fianna Fáil, the Green Party and Sinn Féin have said little on the issue. The people have a right to know whether a political party intends to legislate for abortion. No party leader should hide behind consensus or all-party committees.

The majority of voters in Ireland are pro-life and in light of the urgent need for clarification on this crucial election issue, Ireland United for Life would like to state the following:

·       Ireland without abortion is one of the safest countries in the world for pregnant women. ^[4]

·       Ireland already makes provisions for medical interventions to save the life of a mother that sometimes, unfortunately, can result in the death of a preborn child.

·       Although we support medical intervention to save the life of the mother, the direct and intentional killing of the unborn is never medically or morally justified.

·       Every human life is worthy of protection, that protection starting at fertilization[5] and ending in natural death. We oppose all attacks on innocent human life, whether through abortion, euthanasia or on the pre-implanted embryo.

·       The imposition of legislation on abortion would exclude the Constitutional right of the Irish people to have their rightful say, undoubtedly would undermine the integrity of our Irish democratic process and would reduce further public confidence in our political system.

·       The leaders of the four main parties in Northern Ireland (Sinn Féin, UUP, SDLP, DUP) signed a document opposing the imposition of legislation on abortion in the North. [6]  Following this example, we call on the leaders of all political parties contesting the upcoming General Election in the Republic of Ireland to publicly pledge that they will not legislate for abortion and will support laws that protect the human embryo.

To conclude, we can and will only vote for parties and individual candidates who publicly pledge commitment to defend human life at all stages and we urge all concerned voters to do likewise.

---

[1] Irish Attorney General Paul Gallagher, when addressing the ECHR regarding the ABC v Ireland case, asserted that Irish laws - which have forbidden abortion in almost every case for a century and a half - were based on "profound moral values deeply embedded in Irish society" and that anti-abortion legislation had been ‘endorsed in three separate referendums’. 

[2] Sixty-eight percent of Irish people support Constitutional protection for the unborn child: Millward Brown Lansdowne Poll.

[3] Irish Times reference to RTE, 4^th January 2011.

[4] Maternal Mortality Report: WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA and the World Bank (2007, 2010).

[5] Also referred to as conception or fusion.

[6] Letter to all members of the House of Commons, May 2008.  Signed by Gerry Adams MP MLA, Sinn Féin; Sir Reg Empey MLA, Ulster Unionist Party; Mark Durkin MP MLA; SDLP; Rt Hon Dr. Ian Paisley MP MLA, Democratic Unionist Party

Debate on abortion laws in Ireland to take place at University College Galway

The Law Society of National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG) has arranged a debate on the recent decision of European Court of Human Rights on the A,B and C case. The focus of the debate, which will take place on February 16^th at 8pm, is the current Irish anti-abortion laws

The debate organizers say they are adamant that every side to this issue must be represented and are interested in discussing the implications of the ruling on Irish legislation.

The motion up for debate is "Abortion: Is it time Ireland followed Europe into the 21st Century?"

The aim of the Law Society according to the organisers is to promote the discussion of topics of legal, political and general interest. Previous speakers at NUIG include US Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Nobel Peace Prize winner Elie Wiesel and the Attorney General of Ireland, Mr. Paul Gallagher.

Pro-Life Demonstration against Irish Labour party threat to introduce abortion

Following the ‘ABC’ case, brought before the European Court of Human Rights recently (please see my blogs for 11 January 2011, and 29, 17 and 16 December 2010) the Labour Party in Ireland, as previously reported, announced that if they succeed in being part of the next government here they will introduce laws to allow for abortions to be carried out in Ireland.

In response to this declaration on the part of the Labour Party, Youth Defence arranged a huge demonstration and protest at the local Labour Party constituency offices at Booterstown, on the outskirts of Dublin city, on Saturday last.     Young people, and not so young people, children, babies in prams and buggies, came from many parts of Ireland – north, south, east and west – to give their support to the ‘call to arms’ on behalf of unborn children.   Placards and posters carrying different messages, such as ‘Gilmore: No abortion here’ (Eamon Gilmore is the Leader of the Labour Party), and others warning that Party not to interfere with Ireland’s pro-life laws, etc., were prominently displayed by those present, who lined the footpaths on both sides of the road and also a large traffic island in the middle of the road.  A long banner was held aloft by five or six young people, and this declared the message that abortion must not be introduced into Ireland against the will of the people –

‘NOT IN MY NAME’ is what motorists and bus passengers saw in large lettering as they passed by.   

There was an extremely busy two-way flow of traffic at the meeting point – which also has an intersection, resulting in traffic being constantly delayed by traffic lights, thus giving everyone a great opportunity to see the pro-life messages.   

Although the rain was falling fairly continuously it did not deter the pro-life people – it never does!

Further political reaction to the A,B and C case decision

In this our second post on political reaction to the recent A, B and C case, we look at the response of the Fine Gael leader Enda Kenny who has confirmed his opposition to legalising abortion on demand, but ruled out giving any pre-election commitment to hold a referendum on the matter, he also left a question mark against so called “hard cases” which is very worrying.  Pro abortion lobbyists regularly promote this issue as a means of gaining access to abortion

Mr Kenny told The Irish Times Dec 28 that the best way to deal with the fallout from the European Court decision would be through an all-party Oireachtas committee. 

“While the ECHR judgment must be responded to, it will not be the immediate priority of a Fine Gael-led government. Our priority will be to restore sound public finances, get people back to work and reform our public services and political system,”

Mr Kenny said abortion had been a very divisive issue in Ireland in the past and a re-run of those debates was not what the country needed right now.

“This is very divisive and there are deeply and sincerely held views on all sides of this argument. This obviously is going to be a matter for the next Oireachtas to deal with,” [...]

“My position is I do not favour legalising abortion on demand. We have a situation where you have difficult, hard cases, and some people have gone through very difficult circumstances but there is an ECHR judgment, there is a Supreme Court decision and there is a constitutional position. If the next Oireachtas is to respond, it has got to determine what the facts are, the scale of the problem and the nature of it and see if we can arrive at a consensus on how to deal with it.”

New attempt to pressurise Ireland to introduce abortion in the wake of the A,B and C case

No sooner had media coverage on the A, B and C case started to die down than another ‘case’ comes to light.   Isn’t it extraordinary how this happens?

The newest case – for the moment – is that of a thirty-nine-year-old English lady who is reportedly suffering from cancer and who became pregnant earlier this year.   While we have, and indeed must have, full sympathy for her in relation to her cancer, her case is now being used by pro-abortion organisations and media in an intensified push towards having abortion legalised in Ireland.

The Irish Times admonishes us that – ‘Time and again, in the history of our abortion debate, life throws up profoundly painful cases that test the limits, ambiguities and inadequacies of our law and of the politics of denial that underpin it.’   (That’s media-speak for ‘we must legalise abortion in Ireland immediately.’) The newspaper continues on the same theme – ‘As she faces into an uncertain, curtailed future she has shown a real courage, … in speaking out about her treatment to ensure that others do not have to go through the same hell.’

The right to life of the unborn in Ireland has constitutional protection and there is a supreme court ruling on the relevant article as it related to a woman who it was claimed at the time was suicidal. While diverging judgments were delivered in the X-case ruling the judgment of Finlay CJ is often cited 

–if it can be established as a matter of probability that there is a real and substantial risk to the life, as distinct from the health, of the mother, which can only be avoided by the termination of her pregnancy, such termination is permissible.

But, ‘termination of her pregnancy’ is simply that, each of us terminated our mothers pregnancy by being born. Termination of pregnancy does not imply abortion even though it is regularly interpreted in this way.   Abortion is the direct killing of the unborn baby, by whatever means, and at whatever stage of pregnancy.   Termination of a pregnancy consists of – necessary medical care for both mother and unborn baby.  This is, and has always been, established Irish medical care and ethics.   If the baby unfortunately dies, then that is not abortion – the intention is to save the lives of both mother and baby.

However, to return to the latest case to be used by the pro-abortion lobby – it seems that the consultants caring for the woman sought the advice of the ethics forum at the hospital involved as to whether she was ‘eligible for an abortion in Ireland’ because she was ‘suffering from a life-threatening illness’.   According to reports, the ethics forum, having considered the issue ‘for at least a week, or possibly two’, ruled against her.    Then, following a further three weeks spent organising travel and finding a suitable institution in London, the woman underwent an abortion of her 10/11 weeks-old unborn baby during the summer of this year.   She was so unwell and weak that she had to be helped onto the London-bound aircraft by her partner.

The woman is quoted as saying – ‘The delay in having an abortion could well have made my condition much worse … But why is it that such a simple medical treatment is not available, even when a mother’s life is at risk?’

Abortion is not a treatment for cancer, but real treatment for cancer would not have been withheld in this case even if as a consequence of that treatment the unborn baby had died, this would not have been a direct attack on the life of the unborn baby. Neither is abortion ‘a simple medical treatment’.   Abortion is the intentional killing of an unborn baby at any stage of his or her life from conception onwards.

It has now emerged that that the hospital consultants in question were ‘guided, but not instructed’ by the findings of the hospital ethics forum.   The forum, when approached by medical staff involved in making ethically difficult decisions, offers ‘informed opinion’.     So it was not the ethics forum that made the decision that the lady could not have her baby aborted in Ireland.   Just another example of media hype in an effort to influence ordinary people towards an acceptance of abortion.