Citizens’ Assembly finally gets around to discussing abortion
It almost sounds like the basis for an Irish joke: How do you get almost 100 Irish people into a room for two days to discuss abortion and not have a cross word spoken? Answer: Set up a Citizen’s Assembly.
That is exactly what happened in a Dublin hotel last weekend, when the much-derided gathering of 99 citizens got down to the basics of discussing abortion in Ireland. Inside, there was a serious, calm, well-organised, working person-like atmosphere. Outside, there had been a small protest, less than a handful of people, carrying horribly graphic images. They didn’t hang around.
Admittedly last weekend was, in its way, a fact-finding missions for the citizens. The aim was to tell them the current state of the law and the situation as it exists factually, without examining the perceived advantages or disadvantages of our current regime.
The speakers were well chosen. They set out their professional experience factually ranging from a legal expert, to an obstetrician, a GP, an ethics expert to offer guidance on decision making, to a HSE expert on crisis pregnancy, to the one of only three perinatal psychiatrists in the country.
It was the Convention on the Constitution which paved the way for this assembly. It recommended same-sex marriage. For that, there was a 66/33 split between citizens and politicians. This time there are no politicians, and there is a definite sense that all in the room are equal.
Calls to name date for vote on abortion https://t.co/7RJWFM4seN via @JoyceFegan (GM) pic.twitter.com/wIbHbCuDSk
— Irish Examiner (@irishexaminer) December 1, 2016
The 99 citizens are representative of the census, with the youngest at 20 and the eldest in their 70s, and an even gender spread. Interestingly, ahead of last weekend, a spokeswoman for the Assembly Secretariat acknowledged that they had been “preparing for an onslaught” in terms of how anything to do with abortion in this country typically pans out, but it simply hadn’t materialised.
By the end of the weekend, the citizens had been filled with a head-bursting amount of information on the topic which has divided Irish society for so long.
At the beginning, assembly chairwoman Judge Mary Laffoy told the group the 8th Amendment of the Constitution is “a complex and contentious issue which requires a reasoned, sensible, and compassionate approach”. Indeed, as the morning wore on, it became clear, even to those of us familiar with the issue over the years how difficult it is to grapple with all its complexities.
In short, such a pig’s ear has been made of this area legally and constitutionally that answering questions from the citizens with any degree of certainty was virtually an impossibility. They are the ones left to grapple with the decades of hand- wringing, obfuscation, partial “solutions”, and mind-bending procrastination.
Payment for denied abortion ‘shows State culpability’ https://t.co/z9LA8LyzEy via @JoyceFegan (GM) pic.twitter.com/3ovZUzeVTr
— Irish Examiner (@irishexaminer) December 1, 2016
Eoin Carolan, an expert in Irish Constitutional law, gave a comprehensive history of Article 40.3.3 and the law on abortion in Ireland from what the 1937 Constitution had to say about abortion, right up to today. It is interesting to read his speech and see it littered with phrases and words such as ‘ambiguity’, ‘uncertainty’, ‘it was not clear’, ‘the courts never authoritatively decided’, ‘could not be stated with certainty’, ‘language of the article is relatively general’, ‘does not state what should happen in every situation’, and ‘still many areas of uncertainty’.
In the question and answer session afterwards about when the unborn acquires rights, he said there is no legal clarity. “We really just don’t know,” he told a questioner. While a 2009 Supreme Court judgement on the status of frozen embryos gives some clarity on a pre-implanted embryo not being an unborn until implanted in the womb, the situation outside of an assisted reproduction scenario is basically as clear as mud. He also spoke of the uncertainty relating to fatal foetal abnormalities.
The final question and answer session on Sunday gave a good indication of where the citizens were headed after the hours of information that had just been presented to them. They were able to give their feedback table by table. It was clear there was a lot of overlap in what they are seeking in the forthcoming meetings.
They want more “concrete” information; to hear from pro-life and pro-choice groups. They wish to hear from women who have “real” experience of abortion; to hear from a representative from the Rape Crisis Centre. They want more female expert voices to address them, and also to hear about “fathers’ rights”. They want to hear from those who provide abortion services to Irish women in the UK and of the “abortion regime” there.
They had been told on Saturday by Janice Donlon of the HSE Sexual Health and Crisis Pregnancy Programmes that research has shown that, despite its illegality, between January 2010 and December 2015, 5,650 women from the island of Ireland consulted the Women on Web website, which supplies the abortion pill. The citizens asked for more information on the safety of these pills.
State offers €30,000 to woman denied an abortion in fatal foetal abnormality case https://t.co/CbFHSre7Hd pic.twitter.com/Ug60cBrTUv
— Irish Examiner (@irishexaminer) November 30, 2016
Unsurprisingly, the citizens wanted to hear more about what the options are for changes to the Constitution and the eighth amendment. They requested more information on medical ethics, specifically on the right to live, the right to die, and information on fatal foetal abnormalities.
In his address to the assembly, Brendan O’Shea of the Irish College of General Practitioners said that most family doctors and many patients who attend them in the course of an unplanned pregnancy, “do not experience the eighth amendment, or the process required for the operation of the current legislative framework”, to be satisfactory or helpful. This was the most pointed and political remark heard during the day, but delivered factually and calmly.
Dr O’Shea also said GPs found collectively that, in the majority of unplanned pregnancies, the woman opts to follow through with her pregnancy and this was most likely to occur among women from deprived or migrant backgrounds owing to cost and ability to travel.
“Poorer women accept the pregnancy because they can’t get together €1,000 to fund a termination abroad,” said Dr O’Shea.
Varadkar and Ross have different views on Pope's visit and clash with #abortion poll, writes @Ocionnaith https://t.co/AxdfT1YsWf ^DH pic.twitter.com/f7i1cc8WGn
— Irish Examiner (@irishexaminer) November 28, 2016
So, on Sunday, the citizens asked to hear from more GPs in disadvantaged area about the experiences of such women and their partners, specifying those from more vulnerable groups including sex workers, refugees, and women from the Traveller community.
Last weekend was the first of four proposed weekend discussions on the eighth amendment by the assembly. The next one takes places in January. It is acknowledged by Judge Laffoy that more weekends may be needed. When it was operating, the Convention on the Constitution had a vote at the end of each weekend of deliberation, but when it comes to the assembly and the eighth amendment issue, no votes will take place until the final weekend.
There is no escaping that this assembly was yet another procrastination on the part of Taoiseach Enda Kenny when it came to dealing with abortion. However, it is here now. The next few weekends are bound to be more contentious but, if last weekend is anything to go by, what is being said there is well worth listening to.
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