Dail suspended in row over abortion comments

Heated exchanges over the upcoming abortion referendum led to the temporary suspension of the Dáil this afternoon.

This followed a claim by the Minister for the Marine Mr Fahey that several women had presented at Irish hospitals for abortion on the basis of being suicidal.

Mr Fahey said that medical professionals had refused such applications. "We have a situation at the moment where a woman’s life doesn’t receive parity over the life of the unborn where the woman’s life is in danger. That can’t continue." He was speaking on Northwest Radio this morning.

The Fine Gael leader Mr Michael Noonan said Mr Fahey’s suggestion was "an attempt by the Government to inject misinformation and hysteria into the debate on the abortion referendum".

Fine Gael today launched its campaign for a "No" vote, directed by Ms Nora Owen. She said the proposed constitutional amendment would offer no assistance to the more than 7,000 Irish women a year who travel to Britain for abortions each year.

A rousing Dáil debate followed Mr Fahey’s comments in which the Taoiseach said he didn’t have any knowledge of what Deputy Fahey was referring to. Even if there were such cases, he added, medical codes of practices would preclude that information being made public.

Later on RTÉ radio, the Minister for Health Mr Martin said that Mr Fahey had been told of one such case by a medical practitioner.

In the Dáil, the Taoiseach then went on to describe the Labour Party as a "pro-abortion party" in response to questions from Labour’s Ms Liz McManus.

As voices rose, Fine Gael's Ms Owen was suspended while arguing in support of Ms McManus, resulting in the adjournment of the Dáil.

After the Dáil debate, Mr Ruairí Quinn said the Labour Party’s view is that "we don’t need another referendum. The X Case judgment is there from the Supreme Court." Labour is calling for a "No" vote.

Minister for Health Mr Martin today launched Fianna Fáil’s campaign for a "Yes" vote to the referendum. He said the Government was putting forward the best option in terms of protecting the life of the woman and the unborn.

When ireland.comasked the Eastern Regional Health Authority - where the largest number of maternity hospitals are based - whether they had any evidence to support Mr Fahey's claims, a spokeswoman referred the query back to Mr Fahey.