Abortion status quo not enough

In response to your Page One article last Monday, Micheál Martin appears to be applying the same logic to the issue of abortion as the Government does to personal insolvency, the dreaded moral hazard.

If you legislate allowing some of the population the right to access, then they’ll all be at it. Guess what, they are all at it, well a significant number are — four per week — just out of sight and apparently out of mind. The solution of maintaining the status quo is not good enough.

If I surmise correctly from his comments, Mr Martin believes when it comes to abortion, no law is better than bad law, while on Page 13 of the same edition he states: “I think that goes to the core of a republic, in terms of the citizen being at the centre.” In relation to tobacco, drink, and food he believes there should be “robust championing of citizens in all of that debate”. When it comes to abortion I believe there is a need for robust debate in the Dáil through the legislative process.

The Catholic Church has abolished limbo. It is time that all members of the Oireachtas work towards removing the women of Ireland from the legal limbo in which they currently exist; it is OK to use contraception, procure the morning-after pill, and travel to another jurisdiction to terminate a pregnancy. There is a dire need for action within the legislating body elected for that very purpose.

Many years ago another Fianna Fáil leader from Cork said it was time that we “stopped putting contraception on the long finger”. In the matter of termination of pregnancies, the legislature continues to fail to act, deferring to the judiciary to write our laws and defend our rights, national in the X case, supranational in the C case, taken in the European Court of Human Rights — echoes of Pontius Pilate, washing his hands of the decision, deferring to a lottery of whoever was present at the time. In the past, Mr Martin has displayed an ability to make the hard choices, as with the smoking ban, and speaks of reform in the party, criticising the Taoiseach (correctly) for his position on gay marriage. There will continue to be, for many reasons, women who will seek to terminate their pregnancy.

The State’s, or, if you prefer, the political system’s, answer cannot be “this one is too difficult for us to handle”, so no citizen, no matter what the circumstance, will ever be allowed to terminate a pregnancy in this State. Mr Martin says he is not convinced that we need legislation and we are doing the best for the unborn and the mother. I think talking to the members of TFMR (Terminations for Medical Reasons) would be a good place to start trying to put these citizens at the centre of the debate.

Declan Keating

Turners Cross

Cork