Sir, - The 25th Amendment to the Constitution (Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy) Bill has reached its second stage in the Dβil. Apart from some editorials and other column inches in the press, the public is largely ignorant of the Bill and of what a Yes or No vote might mean in a referendum. Before we reach that critical juncture, may I in my humble opinion point out the Bill's draconian nature?
Readers who remember the 1983 8th Amendment and the 1992 12th Amendment may be forgiven for thinking that we are living through some sort of abortion amendment "Groundhog Day". The current Bill seeks to overturn the result of the 1992 "substantive issue" proposal which was rejected by 1,079,297 votes to 572,177. In this the people voted in a referendum not to outlaw suicide as grounds for abortion, showing that a majority agreed with the X Case judgement - the Supreme Court ruling which allowed a 14-year-old rape victim to travel to Britain for an abortion because she was threatening to kill herself. This current 25th amendment seeks to overturn that decision.
I believe this is a scandal. But this Bill promises much worse. It also seeks to introduce a new criminal offence, so that any woman desperate enough to end a pregnancy herself could have criminal charges brought against her. She, and anybody who helps her, could face a 12-year jail sentence.
All this is at the behest of a small, intolerant pressure group who did not trust legislators in 1983, who did not trust the courts or the judges in 1992, and who now in 2001 do not trust psychologists or psychiatrists. And in every year and every decade they do not trust women.
The Government is attempting to create another Irish solution to an Irish problem - or more accurately an English solution to an Irish problem. So much for our Republic! Irish abortions happen every day - out of sight in London or Birmingham. Up to 7,000 Irish women will have made the difficult choice to have an abortion in Britain in 2001. Many travel late in pregnancy and in secrecy. Many travel home without the benefit of follow-up check-ups.
The current proposals are shamefully all about saving of the life of this Government, rather than saving the life of a pregnant woman who expresses suicidal intent. Keeping four independent's TDs onside along with the PDs is the political rationale behind this flawed Bill. The PDs bear particular culpability in this regard.
May I end this letter by quoting the present Attorney General, Michael McDowell, who drafted this Bill? In June 1992, when Albert Reynolds proposed something very similar, he said the following: "Rolling back the Supreme Court decision is a euphemism for tilting the scales of justice so as to force Irish women (including rape victims) to carry real and substantial risk. Will someone tell the Taoiseach that rolling back the Supreme Court decision is not on? Irish women will not accept it. Irish men and women who share any degree of imagination and compassion will not wear it. Nobody wants an Irish court handing down injunctions to 14-year-old rape victims except a few zealots and their allies with withered emotions."
Enough said. This Bill should be voted down. - Yours, etc.,
Richie Keane, Harty Place, Dublin 8.