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The Government has proposed a
third referendum on
abortion that will remove suicide as grounds for an
abortion, impose a 12 year
prison sentence on any woman who
attempts to self-abort and anyone who helps
her.
This referendum proposal has
sparked intense debate in the Dail. Listed here are
some of the comments made by various party members,
who believe this proposal is flawed
and fails to deal with the reality of abortion in
Ireland.
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'He
states that the real reason for this
amendment is to "shore up political
support for his (the Taoiseach's) four
Fianna Fail dependent Independents until
an election is called." This is to ensure,
"should any of them be re-elected, as it
is anticipated some may be, that when the
next Dail sits, the Taoiseach can rely on
their support and that they would be
available to him should he again attempt
to form a government. That is the sole
political purpose of this proposal.'
it is
government social policy that we should
export distraught, raped and suicidal
teenage girls who wish to terminate a
forced pregnancy across the water to
preserve a self-delusion of moral
superiority".
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Mr. Alan
Shatter
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"the effect of the Bill is
that the death by suicide of a woman is
acceptable to this Government and
preferable to the ending of the pregnancy
which caused the state of mind that would
trigger suicide. The Bill cannot,
therefore, claim to protect human life in
pregnancy because, stated at its most
extreme, it elevates a fertilised embryo
of some day old and virtually invisible to
a pre-eminent position over the life of an
adult woman."
"It is hardly honest to and
compassionate to threaten a woman with 12
years in jail at the most distressing time
in her life."
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Mr. Joe
Higgins
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"The tragedy of the
Government's proposal is that it will do
absolutely nothing to reduce the rate of
Irish abortions." "at least 18 Irish women
will travel to England to terminate a
pregnancy today. Figures indicate that
approximately 11% - one of the highest
rates in Europe - of all pregnancies in
the State result in termination."
"At one of the most
stressful times of their lives these
women, and girls, are effectively exiled
from this country. Their citizenship is
temporarily suspended."
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Mr.
Emmet Stagg
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"It is extraordinary on the
one hand to talk of excluding suicide and
of criminalising a desperate woman and
threatening her with 12 years imprisonment
if she attempts to have an abortion while
on the other hand to protest loudly that
the government will in no way deter such a
woman from going to England for an
abortion."
"It (the Governments
proposal) will not stop one woman from
having an abortion in England. It denies
the reality of the problem here and
expects another country to deal with our
social problems."
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Ms.
Fitzgerald
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"The legislation is a
political and moral fig leaf. It hopes to
preserve our purity by bending morality.
We can still say there is no abortion in
Ireland, but that hides the sad
reality."
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Mr.
Gormley
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