ABORTION:SUICIDAL INTENT should not be a reason for legalising abortion, Minister of State for Finance and the Arts Martin Mansergh said yesterday.
Dr Mansergh, the Fianna Fáil candidate in Tipperary South, said he had received no representations about legalising abortion on the lines of the X case.
“To make suicidal intent, real or alleged, the basis of any abortion law would be fundamentally flawed, regardless of what eminent judges or courts, Irish or European, may say. This issue is and should be reserved to the Irish people, as was established in the 1983 pro-life amendment, in the consultation on which I had some role as taoiseach’s adviser.”
In a statement Dr Mansergh said the election was also about values and identity. At a time of national crisis people often felt a need to affirm fundamental values and sense of identity.
Religion, said Dr Mansergh, remained a fundamental part of the identity of very many Irish people.
“Complete secularisation of Irish society is sought by only a small minority, who have a tendency to invoke human rights in the absence of any substantial democratic support.”
He regretted the severe reduction in funding to the National Heritage Council, which had done a lot of good work in restoring the fabric of historic churches.
Dr Mansergh warned that abandoning Irish as a Leaving Cert subject would send a message that it was dispensable and need not be taken seriously at more junior levels.
