Enda Kenny promises forum on liberalising abortion laws

Enda Kenny has committed to holding a forum on liberalising Ireland’s abortion laws as pressure is piled on politicians here after the North’s assembly was ordered to legislate for terminations.

The Taoiseach told the Dáil that his party’s TDs and senators would get a free vote on any legislation for a possible referendum if one is decided upon to replace the Eighth Amendment.

The Eighth Amendment of the Constitution, which guarantees to protect the life of the unborn, will have to be replaced with alternative regulations, Mr Kenny reiterated.

His comments came as Stormont was told by the courts in Belfast to legislate for abortions, following a ruling which found the absence of legislation was a breach of human rights.

Mr Kenny heard yesterday how Irish women were going for terminations in Britain because of restrictions here.

Independent TD John Halligan told the Dáil during leader’s questions that one woman had left his Waterford constituency and joined a bus of young women, some of whom were “crying and vomiting”.

“She said that what frightened her most was the silence on that minibus as they were taken to the clinic, where nobody spoke, as well as the isolation and the loneliness.

“They had to make the same journey all the way back home and she had to drive down to Waterford. The woman is in a terrible state.”

The TD asked Mr Kenny if he would let the same situation happen to his daughter if she was to ever seek a termination.

“Would the Taoiseach like to see his own daughter, in the emptiness and loneliness of a terribly frightening situation, having to leave her own country?”

Mr Halligan said that exporting the issue of abortion to Britain was “inhumane”.

Mr Kenny responded that the next government would respond to calls to abolish the Eighth Amendment, which would have to be done in a “respectful and rational way” before any referendum is decided upon. This would be done through a public forum.

“Everybody understands the Eighth Amendment was put into the Constitution by the people and can only be changed or amended by the people. That does require sensitive, considered, careful and comprehensive discussion.”

Meanwhile, the North’s justice minister David Ford said he hopes to legislate on abortion for fatal foetal abnormality.

He said he would seek agreement of the Stormont executive after the High Court in Belfast ruled the strict abortion laws were incompatible with human rights legislation.

The landmark ruling there could pave the way for the relaxation of the current prohibition on women accessing terminations in cases of rape, incest or where there is a diagnosis of fatal foetal abnormality.

The judge’s declaration, which can be appealed, does not immediately lift the current ban but puts the onus on the Stormont Assembly to legislate on the contentious issue.

In cases of fatal foetal abnormality (FFA), the judge concluded that the mother’s inability to access an abortion was a “gross interference with her personal autonomy” and, where a sexual crime has occurred, a disproportionate burden is placed on victims, the judge said.