Hidden tragedy must be tackled

ON the eve of the Government’s humiliating defeat in the abortion referendum, Taoiseach Bertie Ahern assured voters the Coalition was working to reduce the number of Irish women travelling abroad to have abortions.

Over a year has passed but, regrettably, there is no sign of that happening. If anything, judging by the latest figures, the situation looks far worse than previously suggested.

According to an All-Ireland survey conducted by the North’s Family Planning Association, the number of Irish women going to Britain for abortions could be double the official figures.

The survey of women from both sides of the Border found more than 3,000 Irish abortion cases are dealt with annually in Liverpool alone. This figure is twice the official estimate of the British Pregnancy Advisory Service. Two thirds of the women seeking to have terminations carried out in clinics in Liverpool are from the Republic.

Apparently, the main reason for this discrepancy is the reluctance of many Irish women to give their true address. Instead of saying where they come from in Ireland, they tend to give a false address somewhere in Britain. Clearly, the reason for this is the appalling social stigma attached to an unwanted pregnancy and the fear of being discovered of having had an abortion.

Significantly, the British service now concedes its figures could be understating the true picture and admit the possibility many more Irish women are going to Britain for abortions than the figures show. The accuracy of its statistics obviously depends on the information provided by clients.

By implication, the report also puts a serious question mark over the reliability of official estimates of the scale of the abortion crisis facing this country. The new statistics are extremely significant because up to now Irish figures have been based on British estimates showing that more than 6,000 Irish women go there every year for an abortion.

Based on the figures in the report, the real number could be much higher and the number of Irish women seeking abortions in Britain could be around 12,000.

On the face of it, these findings put a damning perspective on Ireland’s approach to the human tragedy of abortion which mainly involves exporting our problems to Britain. Long-held suspicions that the scale of the situation has been grossly underestimated would now appear to be borne out.

It is a sad reflection of their plight that in Liverpool the women are known as ‘abortion refugees’. Some hotels even arrange package deals for pregnant visitors. And, ironically, cheaper air fares could be a significant factor influencing women to go there for an abortion.

In the wake of last year’s referendum, in which voters rejected by a slender majority the proposal to remove the threat of suicide as grounds for legal abortion in Ireland, Mr Ahern said he had no plans to legislate on this controversial issue which continues to divide Irish society on pro- and anti-abortion lines.

Inevitably, the failure of successive governments to develop a social and legislative framework to cope with this country’s abortion crisis has exacerbated the problem.

Having put his personal stamp on the campaign, there is an onus on Mr Ahern to grasp the political nettle and introduce legislation. Ultimately, it is the Government that must decide what to do about Ireland’s hidden tragedy of abortion.