Growing pressure to clear path for referendum

Senior Labour figures said a vote was needed, but that the question was unlikely to be put to the people during the lifetime of this Government.
Tánaiste Joan Burton said Labour supported lifting the ban by repealing the 8th amendment but that her party and Fine Gael had only agreed to legislate for the X-case and not beyond that.
Separately, a spokesman for Government last night said that the X case legislation would be the only law brought forward by the coalition on the issue.
Her comments followed revelations that a suicidal immigrant teenager made pregnant through rape and unable to travel abroad was denied an abortion.
Her 24-week-old foetus was delivered by caesarean section despite her protests and after she refused food and water.
Criticism of the case and how it was addressed under the Protection of Life During Pregnancy legislation have prompted calls for a referendum.
Ms Burton’s spokesman said Labour’s position was “clear” and it supported a repeal of the amendment.
“But there’s also recognition that the Programme for Government provided for X case legislation and nothing beyond that,” he said. “Repealing the amendment is a matter for the next government.”
Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan said she wanted to see a vote on repealing the amendment.
“I would like to see it in the future,” she said. “It won’t happen in the lifetime of the current Government.”
The Limerick TD said she was concerned at a situation where a mother has to carry a foetus that would not survive outside the womb.
Earlier, Equality Minister Aodhan O’Riordain said he would like to see the Constitutional Convention recalled to examine the possibility of a vote during the lifetime of this Government. The groundwork needed to be done on holding another referendum, he suggested.
Ivana Bacik, Labour’s leader in the Seanad, also agreed that the convention should be recalled. However, the “political reality” was her party was in government with Fine Gael, she told RTÉ.
Waterford Labour TD Ciara Conway told Newstalk there was “no appetite” at Cabinet for another vote on abortion.
However, she said that she and others would continue to apply pressure on the party leadership for a referendum to be held.
Fine Gael ministers have refused to address the calls for another referendum. However, Health Minister Leo Varadkar, in a brief statement, said: “There are two very vulnerable people involved, a young woman and a little child. Neither should be seen as a news story or political cause. Both need care and compassion and I appeal to everyone to respect their privacy and anonymity.”
Mr Varadkar will not receive a report from health chiefs until next June on the abortion legislation introduced last year. It will outline emergency terminations carried out under the law.
Government sources last night played down the likelihood of new laws on abortion under the Coalition. A spokesman also said Fine Gael had promised before the last election not to legalise abortion.
Independent TDs condemned the State for denying a suicidal rape victim her right to an abortion.