Two Labour TDs who thought they were being interviewed by a
pro-choice reporter admitted that the legislation currently under discussion in
the Irish parliament to introduce abortion is only the beginning, and that the
ultimate goal is a fully liberalised abortion regime like that of the UK.
A report in the Irish Independent last Sunday quotes
Labour’s Aodhan O’Riordain, who said that legislating for abortion based on the
infamous X Case is only a wedge to force open the door.
O’Riordain, who did not know his comments were being
recorded, said the current bill legislating on the X Case is just “a starting
point”. “Once you get that,” he said, “then you can move.”
He added that deceiving the public on the government’s real
intentions is part of the plan. “Of course if I’m on the radio and somebody
says to me, ‘It’s a starting point for abortion on demand,’ I'm gonna say, ‘No,
of course it isn't – it is what it is.’”
The plan was confirmed by Wicklow TD Anne Ferris, also with
Labour, who said, “We will legislate certainly for what the European Court has
told us to and then we can go further than that . . . we get the first part
done and then we will go on to the next bit.”
Ferris then added, “People aren’t going to vote Fianna Fail
back into power again, so I would say then next term it will happen,”
O’Riordain said, “I think the ABC case or X case wouldn’t do
too much . . . but once you have established a principle then we will get there
over time. But I’ll say this much, it’s never going to happen unless Labour are
in Government. It just wouldn't happen.” He added that the party is “100 per
cent” committed to full abortion legalisation.
The two were covertly recorded last June by an unnamed pro-life
woman on her mobile phone. The woman told the Independent that she had led the
two Labour TDs into a discussion on abortion because it is in the “public
interest” to reveal the “duplicitousness” of politicians on the issue of
abortion.
She told the Independent, “They are public representatives.
And I think if a public representative is saying one thing in public but
reassuring a select group of activists who support them on (that) one issue in
private . . . that is something that is of massive concern and that’s something
that the public needs to know about.”
The paper said that an independent expert confirmed there
was no evidence that the recordings “had been edited or otherwise interfered or
tampered with in any way.” The paper added that the “revelations will
undoubtedly lead to more pressure to oppose the X case legislation.”
Pro-life people have long been aware that the Labour Party
are pro abortion and that their long term plan is abortion on demand. It now appears they are willing to deceive the voting public on the
issue in order to achieve their ends. They like to present themselves in the national debate as seeking only ‘limited
abortion’ but that deception has now been exposed.
O’Riordain added on the recording that the
government-appointed Expert Group, which advised the legislation for
legalisation, was intended to provide an excuse for 76 Fine Gael TDs for whom
voting in favour of abortion would be “political suicide”.
The Expert Group, he said, “is the way to do that – do you
know what I mean? Because they can say, ‘Well, the expert group told us to do
it.’”
Needless to say the Labour Party distanced itself from
Ferris’ statements, saying they were “her personal views.” “It was in the
party’s manifesto and in the Programme for Government that we would legislate
for the X Case, and that is the party’s position,” a spokesman told the
Independent.
