In the coming months, Ireland will conduct a review of the abortion legislation that was approved in 2018.
Despite what some believe, people do not have a constitutional right to an abortion since then, the right that was granted was for the government to legislate for abortion, which they are free not to do, should there ever be a prolife majority in the Dail again.
Up for review is the availability of abortion itself, but also the manner with which said abortions can be committed. In 2018, this included the tabling of amendments that would ban sex selective abortions, provide pain relief for babies being murdered in late term abortions and also the banning of killing unborn babies because they have a disability.
All three amendments were rejected, many by politicians who either did not know, did not understand or did not care about what they were voting for.
When Ronan Mullen spoke about the amendment in the Seanad he said:
The purpose of the amendment is not to nullify completely the provision of abortion at that 12 weeks stage. I will not repeat what I said yesterday when I recounted the international context in which abortions are sought on gender grounds, in particular. The amendment is fairly self-explanatory but one thing is clear. It would have the effect of delivering on a core promise made by the Government in advance of the referendum that abortion, on the grounds of disability, would be specifically excluded by this legislation. Without this amendment, that is not the case, and that puts question marks over the Government's credibility and honesty.
David Norris replied:
I fully understand Senator Mullen's wish to exclude abortions on the grounds of sex. I think we would all agree that it is a horrible practice. While it certainly exists in India, I was not aware of any threat of it in Ireland. However, as Senator Mullen says, it is important in legislation to contemplate the possible, even if it is unlikely. The same is true of the race of the foetus.
He then continued:
I believe in being honest, that I can understand circumstances in which a mother would find it impossible to cope with a disabled child.
Senator Brian O’ Domhnaill stated:
Several very senior doctors seem to have no objection in principle to the law allowing abortions in such cases
In addition, in Cork, a new company called P4ML was set up in 2017. It offers non-invasive prenatal testing, the NIPT test, at nine weeks gestation and results are available within two to four business days, confirming my argument on the technology advancing all of the time. On the P4ML website, Professor Louise Kenny appears as a testimonial. She was one of the most vocal doctors campaigning for the removal of the eighth amendment and advocated her position on television and radio debates before the referendum. P4ML also supported the repeal of the eighth amendment. I wonder if economic reasons were attached to it.
The following exchange, involving notorious politicians Catherine Noone and Aodhan O’Riordain illustrates the farcical nature of the ‘debates’ that took place regarding abortion in Ireland in 2018.
Catherine Noone: The Senator needs to be careful about what he says about certain doctors in this House.
Senator Brian O’ Domnhaill: I did not refer to any doctor. I referred to a private company.
Catherine Noone: The Senator did refer to doctors and the transcripts will show same. He needs to be very careful as he is treading on dangerous enough ground.
Senator Brian O’Domhnaill: The transcripts will show that I referred to a private company named P4ML based in County Cork which, as I mentioned, campaigned to support the "Yes" campaign in the referendum and presumably there would be economic advantages in doing so.
That is a fact.
Ivana Bacik: No, it is not.
Senator Brian O’ Domhnaill: Yes, it is.
Catherine Noone: Can we try to stick to the amendment?
Senator Brian O’ Domhnaill: It is an economic fact.
Aodhan O’Riordain: It is speculation. It is outrageous.
These sorts of exchanges were not rare, in another clip, Simon Harris seemed even more perplexed than usual (no small feat) when he heard that babies were being born alive and left to die in abortions. Harris muttered ‘disgusting’ under his breath when confronted with this fact. Like a petulant child he kept stating ‘no I don’t’ when asked to take it seriously. When the phrase ‘abortion industry’ was used, the same Harris then said ‘what abortion industry?’. When the HSE contacted Affidea later that year to procure ultrasound facilities for abortions, it is unlikely that they asked them to do it as an act of charity. It is genuinely difficult to know which politicians feign ignorance and which just simply do not care that babies are being delivered alive and left to die in abortions because of them, with doctors reporting vomiting as the organs of the babies slowly shut down upon delivery and they wail for comfort in their brutal last moments, comfort which is denied to them in many cases.
This was in direct contrast to a promise that Harris made pre Referendum where he stated that termination would not be lawful beyond the terms of viability.
In any functioning country, the Referendum to Remove the Right to Life would have been run again because voters were lied to, but unfortunately Ireland has become a Globalist rogue state, where its politicians don’t even pretend to care about its own constituents, born and unborn.
Now, Carol Nolan has tabled a pain relief bill in anticipation of the upcoming legislation review.
That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide for pain relief for the foetus in certain cases of termination of pregnancy; and to provide for related matters.
I thank the ten co-sponsors of the legislation. Last December the all-party Oireachtas life and dignity group published a report on the issues of late-term abortion and foetal pain and I urge all Deputies to read it. The report is available at www.lifeanddignity.ie. The infliction of unnecessary or avoidable pain on human beings, especially those with no capacity to resist, is something that all compassionate societies should seek to avoid. Thankfully, in most areas of modern medicine, this principle is routinely adopted in practice. This is why medical ethics require that surgical procedures, both routine and major, are carried out with the use of anaesthetics and analgesics, except in extreme circumstances where this is not possible. These values also inform our attitudes to the treatment of animals. Under the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013, vets and farmers are required to use anaesthetics when carrying out any procedure on an animal.
These attitudes to inflicting pain are an acknowledgement that to allow pain and suffering to be inflicted, where it can be avoided, would be an affront to human dignity. This brings me to the subject matter of the Bill before us, namely the pain felt by unborn children in the womb in the context of surgical abortion procedures.
Medical science has known for some time that unborn babies can experience pain from 20 weeks' gestation. However, an increasing body of scientific research, from approximately 2007 onwards, has suggested the brain and nervous system develop at a rate which means unborn babies may feel pain as early as 13 weeks. The latest such study was published last year in the Journal of Medical Ethics. A recent comprehensive review of the scientific literature by two experts, one of whom is pro-choice, concluded unborn babies may experience pain as early as 12 weeks and there was certainly no way to definitely exclude that possibility.
I look forward to discussing the substantial medical evidence which exists in support of the Bill on Second Stage and beyond. The new research and newly available information must prompt a policy response from the Oireachtas, the reason being that abortion on demand is available for the first 12 weeks of pregnancy under the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018.
From 12 weeks onwards, surgical abortions can be carried out in cases of so-called fatal foetal abnormalities or when doctors deem there to be a threat to the life or health of the mother. Against the backdrop of the latest medical evidence, this leaves us with the disturbing possibility that every child subjected to a surgical abortion procedure after 12 weeks on these grounds not only has his or her life ended but has it ended in a manner in which he or she could be subjected to horrific pain and suffering in the process. As human beings and legislators, we cannot stand by and ignore this. Accordingly, this Bill makes a limited change to the 2018 Act by adding a new section requiring that anaesthetics be required for surgical abortions after 12 weeks and that cases in which this occurs be reported in line with the reporting requirements under the Act.
It is important to be clear on what this Bill does not do. The 2018 Act would remain in force, so Members on all sides of the abortion debate could support this simple humanitarian amendment. The Bill poses no risk to women because in cases in which an anaesthetic cannot be used for any medical reason, doctors can certify this and the provisions of the Bill would not apply. It would cost women nothing nor would there be a significant cost to the State or the taxpayer.
It is now routine for unborn children who are undergoing life-saving or corrective surgery to be given pain relief to ensure they feel no distress during the procedure. Perinatal medicine now treats unborn babies, often as young as 18 weeks' gestation, for a range of conditions, during which care is taken to avoid inflicting pain. In Britain, unborn babies receiving a newly developed surgical technique to correct spinal malformations receive pain relief as a matter of course. All this Bill does is extend the same principle to all procedures carried out on unborn children, including surgical abortions.
The Bill is a concession to our humanity and compassion for all life, no matter what the circumstances. Given the weight of the emerging scientific evidence, this is not an issue we can afford to ignore. As we hear so often in these times, let us follow the science.
For the reasons I have outlined, I commend the Bill to the House and look forward to leading the debate on it on Second Stage.
It is likely that it won’t just be the left opposing it, formerly ‘prolife’ parties like Fianna Fail and Sinn Fein will be bloodthirsty enough to oppose it as they did in 2018.
In the 3 years since Repeal, abortions have skyrocketed to 6,666 a year. Birth rates have collapsed by 25%. Babies are being born and left to die on tables without assistance.
Every possible worst case scenario has come to pass.
This vote should mark the start of a renewed effort to stop abortion in Ireland. Pro aborts are currently sizing up bills to ban prolife protests (even as though protest outside Maternity Hospitals this week). It is only going to get worse and worse unless something changes.
