Fine Gael has confirmed anti-abortion backbenchers will be able to introduce amendments to proposed legislation, in a move that could set the party on a collision course with Labour.
Fine Gael chairman Charlie Flanagan insisted the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill would not be “rubber-stamped”, with TDs and Senators getting numerous opportunities to “deliberate on the small print” of the law.
However, Labour says it is determined that the Bill will pass through the Oireachtas unamended, with a senior party source firmly rejecting three proposed alterations which some Fine Gael backbenchers are seeking.
These include the introduction of a “gestational cut-off point” after which terminations cannot be performed in cases where the mother is suicidal, along with a “review” of the legislation after 12 months if abortion figures escalate.
A third amendment being sought is legal representation for the unborn child if a woman is granted a termination on grounds of suicide.
No fait accompli
Mr Flanagan said: "There will be an opportunity for amendments. This isn't just a parliamentary rubber-stamp. I wouldn't like people to think that this is a fait accompli because it isn't.
The Oireachtas health committee hearings on the “heads” or broad outline of the Bill begin next week, and once published the legislation must pass through various stages in the Dáil and Seanad.
However, Mr Flanagan stressed the extent to which amendments would be accepted “is one for debate and deliberation”. Taoiseach Enda Kenny said yesterday the “review” proposal would be a matter for discussion at the health committee hearings.
Responding for the first time to the Catholic bishops’ description of the planned law as “morally unacceptable”, Mr Kenny said Ireland was a republic, in which politicians had a “duty and responsibility” to legislate.
"Everybody's entitled to their opinion here but, as I explained to the cardinal and members of the church, my book is the Constitution and the Constitution is determined by the people," he said.
The people's wishes
"We live in a republic and I have a duty and responsibility as head of Government to legislate in respect of what the people's wishes are."
Mr Kenny expressed the hope the Government could “bring everybody with us” on this matter, but senior party figures remain concerned about the voting intentions of a small number of deputies.
Minister of State for equality and mental health Kathleen Lynch of Labour said any Government, “either now or in the future” could repeal any piece of legislation.
In response to the bishops' suggestion that the Bill "appears to impose a duty on Catholic hospitals to provide abortions", Ms Lynch told RTÉ Radio One's This Week programme it was "only reasonable" that facilities funded by the State complied with the law of the land.
Mr Kenny said the people’s wishes had been determined and set out by the Supreme Court judgment on the X case. “It is time to bring clarity and certainty to it. ”
Asked if Fine Gael members were concerned about excommunication from the Catholic Church, he said: “I have my own way of speaking to my God.”
