Mulherin: Abortion is used as birth control
The constituency colleague of the Taoiseach appeared on RTE’s Saturday Night Show to defend her “fornication” remarks in a Dáil debate, remarks which have caused a storm of controversy.
She said she stood by her remarks during an abortion debate that “fornication”, consensual sex between two unmarried people, was the biggest cause of unwanted pregnancy.
The 40-year-old solicitor said she believed there were a lot of immature attitudes to sex in this country.
“There are 4,500 or 5,000 women that feel they need to go to Britain to have a termination of their pregnancy. In some of those instances, at least, we can say that there is obviously unprotected sex involved and perhaps causal encounters.
“I’m not a prude. I think it’s about acknowledging that in some instances abortion is being used as birth control.”
The TD, who said she holds strong Catholic beliefs, insisted she will not be silenced by the liberal or politically correct agenda.
“We should mature as a nation in relation our attitudes to sex. It’s not extremely one way or another way. I respect that in relation to people’s sexual behaviour, call it fornication, that is people’s choice. It may not be always the best thing for them to be doing but that is the nature of Christianity. There is that freedom. It is not forcing something on people.
“People are reacting emotionally to a word.
My viewpoint is that there is a real liberal agenda there that is a bit upset now that they haven’t got politicians like myself shutting up because of the claptrap of political correctness. We have to have a bit of straight taking.”
She said she did not agree with abortion from a personal point of view.
“I have my own personal views. I don’t agree with abortion. I accept the X case in the sense that it decided that in a situation, if the mother’s life was at risk, in that limited circumstance, there could be a termination.”
She refused to comment on the Irish women who have come forward to talk about travelling for terminations after being told they were pregnant with babies who had conditions incompatible with life.
“That is a very hard question to answer. That is a very, very tough and it is a very, very sensitive issue.
“In general when we make laws it is hard to make a good law on hard cases. It generally is hard to legislate for it.
“There is no magic wand in relation to abortion. One could say one could never win with the subject.”
She also said she didn’t agree with sex before marriage in an ideal world.
“[Fornication] means consensual sex between adults who are not married to each other. I don’t think it is a crime, and from a scriptural point of view it is wrong, whether we like it or not.
“I’m not a Holy Joe or a fanatic. I’m a Catholic. I don’t go to Mass religiously every Sunday and I have had the opportunity to study scripture in an ecumenical situation.”
She said she believed women should value their bodies more and try not to get into situations where they had unprotected sex.
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