ABORTION HAS surfaced as an issue in the elections to the European Parliament with a war of words between Independent MEP for Ireland North-West Marian Harkin and Libertas leader Declan Ganley who is running in the same constituency.
In a statement yesterday, Ms Harkin accused Libertas of “hypocrisy” on the abortion issue.
“Mr Ganley himself has personally chosen Eline Van den Broek who is pro-abortion and pro-euthanasia to top his list [of candidates] in the Netherlands,” said her statement.
Speaking to The Irish Times, Libertas candidate for Dublin Caroline Simons said: “Eline van den Broek has not taken a public position on any of these matters. Marian Harkin has plucked it out of the air.”
Refusing to accept this, Ms Harkin responded: “If she [Ms van den Broek] goes on Dutch TV and says she supports life from conception to natural death and is opposed to embryonic stem-cell research then I will take it all back.”
A Libertas spokesman said: “Eline Van Den Broek has never, ever been an advocate for abortion or euthanasia, something that Marian Harkin has implied she once was. Marian Harkin’s parliamentary group, the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE), is an active promoter of abortion, euthanasia and the reduction of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). This is the inconvenient truth for Marian.”
Ms Harkin is a member of the European Democratic Party (EDP) in the European Parliament, which is part of the ALDE with the European Liberal Democrat and Reform party (ELDR).
“The EDP is not pro-abortion or in favour of euthanasia,” Ms Harkin said.
She told The Irish Times she took no responsibility for the positions of the ELDR: “I’m a member of the Democrats.”
Ms Simons said: “Marian Harkin sits with a group in the European Parliament who want Ireland’s policies on abortion and euthanasia overturned. We in Libertas will defend Ireland’s position on abortion and euthanasia.”
Attacking Mr Ganley, Ms Harkin said in her press statement: “He had the hypocrisy to lecture me about sitting with Liberals and yet invite them to join his own party Libertas and place them on the top of his list.”
Ms Harkin said the Libertas message “ will be whatever it takes to fool the people”. Libertas accused Ms Harkin of “pulling a slight fast one here”.
