Kenny ‘not in business of liberalising abortion’

Taoiseach Enda Kenny has said the Government is not in the business of liberalising abortion.

Speaking after 25,000 people took part in an anti-abortion protest, Mr Kenny said the Government had an obligation to legislate for limited abortion following recent court rulings.

Mr Kenny said that legal certainty will be given to medical professionals and this will be done in a humanitarian way. He also told RTÉ’s The Week In Politics that he had received abusive messages on the issue.

“I’m receiving correspondence and messages from all over the country. I’m now being branded as being worse than Herod,” said Mr Kenny, referring to the king who, in the Bible, ordered the murder of infant boys in an effort to kill Jesus.

“I’m in not in the business of liberalising abortion. I am not in the business of providing abortion on demand,” he said.

The Government has committed to legislate and introduce regulations to allow abortion if there is a real and substantial risk to a woman’s life, including the threat of suicide.

The weekend saw rallies against and in favour of the changes to the law. Saturday’s protest against changes was led by Tyrone GAA manager Mickey Harte as campaigners travelled from all over the country to join the Unite for Life vigil at Dublin’s Merrion Square.

Fine Gael TD Terence Flanagan was among the thousands present. Mr Flanagan said he attended the march “in a listening capacity”. Mr Harte told the crowd there is no life more vulnerable than that of an unborn child.

Nearby, about 100 pro-choice supporters, including members of the newly-formed Abortion Rights Campaign, staged a counter-demonstration in silence. They accused anti-abortion groups of opposing the introduction of legislation that would save the lives of women living in Ireland.

Caroline Simons of the Pro-Life Campaign told the crowd that claims by the Government that abortion was needed to treat threatened suicide in pregnancy had been “demolished” at last week’s Oireachtas hearings.

“There is no evidence whatever that suggests that abortion reduces the mental health risks of unwanted or mistimed pregnancy,” she said.

“But there is evidence that abortion increases the risk of future mental health problems for a significant number of women.”

The abortion controversy was reignited by the death of Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar on Oct 28. She suffered a miscarriage at 17 weeks after being refused an abortion.