Kenny rules out public poll on abortion

Backbench TDs from both coalition parties were being prepared for a compromise on contentious abortion legislation even as the Taoiseach ruled out a referendum on the issue.

Enda Kenny said the legislation would not change the law, but codify the existing constitutional position.

As talks continued in an effort to reach an agreed position on the level of medical assessment of suicidal risk, junior health minister Alex White warned his Labour Party colleagues that the outcome will be “quite restrictive in the context of the X case judgment”.

The 1992 ruling states abortion is permissible in Ireland where there is a risk to the life of a woman because of the pregnancy, including the risk of suicide.

Mr Kenny said the law “will deal with the X case and will do so without bringing in any new rights”.

In what appeared to be an appeal to a group of his party’s TDs and senators strongly opposed to any inclusion of suicide as grounds for abortion, Mr Kenny said “the law is not being changed on abortion, the law is being codified”.

“The law, when clarified, will deal strictly with the Constitution, will stay within the law.” He did not propose holding a referendum.

Disagreement has focused on how the veracity of so-called suicidal ideation should be assessed by health professionals in order to allow a legal abortion.

Earlier drafts of the heads of the Protection of Maternal Life Bill stated that one obstetrician and two psychiatrists must jointly certify such a risk and their decision should then be reviewed by another panel of three.

One Labour source privately conceded that the principle of a second opinion was acceptable in medical practice, but there were concerns about the level of assessment being sought.

Mr White said that while the Government wanted “to put safeguards into the legislation,” they did not want “any excessive or inordinate obstacles to the exercise by a woman of what is a constitutional right”. However, he said it was “important to remember that the legislation will mean that we have a very restrictive regime in Ireland in relation to termination of pregnancy”.

Following discussions on the issue with Health Minister James Reilly and Children’s Minister Frances Fitzgerald (both Fine Gael) Mr White said progress was being made. The other junior health minister, Labour’s Kathleen Lynch, also attended the meeting.

There has been substantial disagreement within Fine Gael about allowing suicide as grounds for an abortion.

If agreement is reached before next Tuesday, the heads can be agreed by Cabinet. They will then go to the Oireachtas health committee before the final version is agreed.

Mr White said it was still a “Government imperative” that the legislation be enacted before the Dáil breaks for the summer recess.