Eighth Amendment committee: Laws make parents feel like ‘outcasts’

Parents forced to go through the torment of giving birth to babies with fatal foetal abnormalities have spoken about being made to feel like “outcasts” by Ireland because of the country’s strict abortion laws.

Members of the Termination for Medical Reasons Ireland group made the remark during harrowing evidence to the Oireachtas committee on the future of the Eighth Amendment.

Speaking during seven hours of public meetings, which also heard concerns over how abortion laws are affecting rape victims and warnings the law has “traumatised” the entire country, Gerry Edwards and Claire Cullen-Delsol said a “straight repeal” is needed.

In deeply emotional evidence to the cross-party committee during their one-hour session — which was not attended by pro-life members Peter Fitzpatrick and Mattie McGrath, and only attended for 10 minutes by Ronan Mullen — the bereaved parents said it is torture to legally force women take a dead or dying baby to full term.

“Women have been brutalised by Ireland, and to be frank by successive governments,” said TMRI chair Mr Edwards. “Our baby [which was born with a complete head and skull] was delivered [through a termination] in Belfast. I had visions of having to smuggle our baby over the border, visions of climbing over a cemetery wall.

“Has the Eighth Amendment offered my family any dignity? We were made to feel like outcasts. We couldn’t attend his cremation [in Belfast]. We just got the package a couple of weeks later, and signed like any Amazon delivery,” he said.

The same message was given by Ms Cullen-Delsol, who said that due to the Eighth Amendment she had to carry her dying baby to full term.

“Two nights I sat up in bed convinced that she had died. I mourned her death twice.

“I knew she was going to die and I was going to have to give birth to a dead baby. The nightmares were horrendous. There was a thing that could have been done to help me, and I was denied it.

“From that experience I ended up with post-traumatic stress disorder. I take a tablet every day to not go off the deep end,” she said.

Both Mr Edwards and Ms Cullen-Delsol called for the full repeal of the Eighth Amendment due to the fact people facing a situation similar to them are being forced to take their babies’ remains home in “freezer bags” from other countries.

Meanwhile, yesterday’s seven-hour abortion committee also heard NUI Galway law lecturer Tom O’Malley warn abortions in the cases of rape may have to be declared in criminal trials if they are made legal.

In an early session on the trauma caused by being legally prevented from having an abortion, professor of psychiatry at Trinity College Veronica O’Keane clashed with Fine Gael pro-life TD Peter Fitzpatrick after outlining the impact of the existing laws.

“The mental health of everybody in Ireland is damaged by the Eighth Amendment, we are all being shamed,” she said.