X case legislation - Abortion is a political hot potato

In the interview published in today’s Irish Examiner, it is hardly surprising that Fianna Fáil leader Micheál Martin says he “remains to be convinced” that the Oireachtas should legislate for the X case.

The Supreme Court’s 1992 ruling on the infamous case indicated a distinct need for clarity in relation to the circumstances in which a woman has a right to have an abortion.

If Mr Martin said he was convinced that such legislation is necessary, people should ask what he did about the issue while in government from 1997 to 2011. Of course, there are grounds for suggesting that the thorny issue should be tackled.

The European Court of Human Rights found in 2010 that Ireland had breached the rights of women by not providing clear regulatory or legislative procedures by which a woman could establish whether she qualified for a lawful abortion in Ireland.

Many commentators were convinced in 1982 that the proposed Pro-Life Amendment was introduced as a political ploy to embarrass the Fine Gael leader, the late Garret FitzGerald. He initially endorsed the proposed wording of the referendum but then called on people to reject it on the grounds that the amendment might actually prove counterproductive by opening the door for legalised abortion.

Opponents ridiculed his arguments, and the electorate duly sanctioned the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. But Dr FitzGerald’s warning soon proved to have been prescient, when the Supreme Court ruled that the danger of suicide would justify abortion as a threat to life of the expectant mother.

The court ruled that the teenage girl at the centre of the X case was not only entitled to travel to England to have an abortion, but was entitled to one in this country, because she was considered potentially suicidal.

The case led to three further constitutional referendums in November 1992. The electorate rejected a proposal on the substantive issue, stipulating that the proscription on abortion would apply even if the woman in question were suicidal.

The other two amendments were passed stipulating that the ban on abortion would not limit the right of a pregnant woman to travel abroad for an abortion, and that people had the right to distribute and receive information about abortion services available abroad.

The X case went on to have enormous political ramifications that led to the collapse of the Fianna Fáil/ Labour coalition of 1992-1994, and the fall of Albert Reynolds as Taoiseach. Since then the various governments have shied away from clarifying the right of women to abortion.

As recently as April, Health Minister James Reilly told the Dáil that six successive governments shied away from the issue, but he said the current government would not be the seventh.

An expert group, chaired by High Court Judge Seán Ryan was set up to advise on the matter. Its report is due in September. Maybe the issue will then become a political diversion, but nobody should underestimate the potential of this hot potato to become a stick of political dynamite.