Referendum on same-sex marriage expected in 2015

RTE report Tuesday November 5^th that the Irish Government Cabinet has agreed to hold a  referendum on civil marriage for same-sex couples, which is likely to take place in mid-2015. It is understood that Minister for Justice Alan Shatter brought a memo to the Cabinet this morning on the issue.

This is social engineering at its worst and can only damage the institution of marriage.

This issue has been very much in the news in the UK in recent months and we are linking to an excellent document prepared by the Society for the Protection of Unborn Children (SPUC) on the issue and would recommend that it should be widely circulated.

In a separate article the Sunday Times reported that Minister Shatter will give guardianship rights of children to gay couples in advance of the referendum.

Tánaiste (Deputy Prime Minister) Eamon Gilmore recently said he hoped there would be a referendum on same-sex marriages during the lifetime of the Government. He said the right of gay people to marry was an "important issue". Mr Gilmore also said it would be "important to win this referendum".

It was also reported last week that two labour MEPs called for a referendum on same-sex marriage on the same date as the local and European elections next May, to ensure a good voter turnout.

Taoiseach (Prime Minister) Enda Kenny however, bruised by his humiliating defeat in the Seanad Referendum, and concerned that he will be faced with a new backbench revolt within Fine Gael, was last week reported to be hesitating. It appears that the compromise decision has been to push the referendum date to 2015.

The Sunday Times Nov. 3rd reported on a briefing note on  Justice Minister Alan Shatter's Family Relationships and Children's Bill, a draft of which is to be brought before the Cabinet shortly. Sarah McInerney [p. 1] reports: 'The minister intends to provide that in a surrogacy case, parentage may be legally assigned by the court on the basis of a genetic connection to one of the parents, with agreement of the surrogate. … It also proposes to give guardianship // [p. 2] rights of children to gay couples for the first time. … Shatter's proposals would allow a civil partner who is living with the adoptive or biological parent of a child and acting 'in loco parentis' for more than a year, to apply for guardianship of the child. The government intends for this aspect of the bill, which will be brought before the Oireachtas ahead of a referendum on same-sex marriage, to deal with many of the issues which may arise in the referendum debate in relation to adoption and guardianship of children by gay couples. … Shatter confirmed he will be bringing a comprehensive draft bill before cabinet shortly.'

Other reports at variance with the Sunday Times report suggest that the proposal to give guardianship rights of children to gay couples will not be part of the ‘Family Relationships and Children's Bill’ but will be legislated for separately in a stand alone bill.

Tension between Irish Government parties on abortion issue

In response to a report that the ‘draft heads’ of a bill for the introduction of abortion in Ireland included assessment of requests for abortion by a panel of six doctors, Labour Minister Pat Rabbitte, along with colleague Jan O’Sullivan, said he would have serious concerns if draft legislation included a proposal that six doctors would be required to assess if a threat of suicide by a pregnant woman represented a real and substantial risk to her life.

Health Minister Dr James Reilly meanwhile is reported as saying “some people may have formed the wrong impression”. “The heads of the bill are not finalised. They are still in process. It would not be appropriate for me to discuss what is in them until they have been discussed at the appropriate level which is cabinet,” he told reporters this morning.

Dr Reilly said after he brings the heads of the bill to Government, they will go to the Oireachtas committee on health where the heads can be discussed before the bill is finally drafted. “Obviously the drafting of that bill will be very much informed by what happens at the Oireachtas Committee,” he said.

Dr Reilly revealed it was his intention to bring it before the cabinet tomorrow. He anticipated that were would be disagreements about it at cabinet level, at the Oireachtas committee and even after the bill is drafted.

“I want to reassure people that there will be no question of a woman in distress with suicidal ideation being put through the sort of interviewing process that we have heard about on the television and the radio,” he explained.

“At the heart of this is a need for legislation to clarify the situation for women who have to use the service and for doctors who have to provide it.”

The Irish Times reported Monday April 22nd that Labour leader and Tánaiste Éamon Gilmore has said the timetable for the introduction of abortion legislation is on-track, but it is important that the content of the legislation is right.

Speaking in Luxembourg this morning, where he is chairing a meeting of EU ministers, the Tanaiste said the purpose of the legislation was to “provide certainty to women and their medical practitioners.”

“We have a timetable which is to have this legislation dealt with by the summer recess. We intend to keep to that deadline, but of course it’s important that we get the content of the legislation right, because the whole purpose of this legislation is to protect the lives of women, and to provide certainty to women who find themselves in this situation.”

His comments come in the wake of reports that deep divisions between the coalition partners on how to delay the suicide aspect of the law, could delay tomorrow’s publication of draft abortion legislation.

High-level talks took place over the weekend involving the offices of Taoiseach Enda Kenny and Mr Gilmore, as well as Minister for Health James Reilly, in an effort to find a solution that would accommodate the dramatically different viewpoints of the Labour Party and sections of Fine Gael on the inclusion of a suicide threat as a ground for a legal termination.