TDs and Senators sitting on the 8th Committee have voted for repeal of the 8th Amendment; broad access to abortion up until 12 weeks, and the decriminalisation of women in all circumstances.
The final public sitting of the Oireachtas Committee on the 8th Amendment met on Wednesday.
Committee Chair Senator Catherine Noone said the last public session was to examine “the report and recommendations of the Citizens’ Assembly through voting process… we will then prepare our draft report in accordance with the Committee’s terms of reference”.
Fianna Fáil committee members Billy Kelleher, Lisa Chambers, and Ned O’Sullivan proposed an amendment to allow legal access to abortions up to 12 weeks. Their amendment asked:
“That the committee recommend, in view of the complexities of legislating for the termination of pregnancy for reasons of rape and incest, that it be more appropriate to deal with this issue by making the termination of pregnancy lawful with no restriction as to reason up to a gestation limit of up to 12 weeks, through a GP-led service.”
Sinn Féin members abstained on the Fianna Fáil proposal as it was not in line with the Sinn Féin party position.
Fianna Fáil committee members also proposed a further amendment asking:
“That the committee accept that a medical diagnosis of fatal foetal abnormality requires a compassionate approach to the family affected and that termination of pregnancy services should be available in such circumstances.”
This motion was passed with Mullen, McGrath, and Fitzpatrick voting against it.
Some of the Oireachtas Committee’s decisions were in line with the Citizen’s Assembly recommendations while other Citizen’s Assembly motions were rejected.
The committee voted against the Citizens’ Assembly recommendation to allow abortion in cases where the foetal abnormality is not fatal.
Six Committee members voted against women’s health being grounds to access an abortion; TD Mattie McGrath’s proposal to remove suicidality as a factor was defeated 17 to three with one abstention.
Anti-choice Committee members Ronan Mullen and Mattie McGrath had been making waves prior to the meeting with Mattie McGrath getting into hot water over saying: “The fat lady hasn’t sung here… and I don’t mean the Chairperson”. It is understood that he then apologised to Senator Noone who said she was not going to dignify the incident with a public response.
https://twitter.com/GethingsH/status/941042205719977986
Senator Mullen held a press conference to say that he was sceptical of the Committee members who spoke out about having changed from anti-choice positions to pro-choice positions as a result of sitting on the 8th Committee.
Mullen called their change of heart “all too convenient. A politician is entitled to say he or she has shifted his or her pro-life position as a result of being on this Committee. I am entitled to say whether I believe them.”
Abortion Rights Campaign spokesperson, Sarah Monaghan, said that the organisation welcomes the proposal to allow access without restriction up until 12 weeks,
“However restricting this to only the first 12 weeks of pregnancy is far from the barrier-free access required to provide women and pregnant people in Ireland with proper, compassionate care. Nonetheless, it was encouraging to see the Committee recommending that the abortion pill be made available via GPs, and that those seeking abortion as a result of rape not be required to “prove” their attack.”
An amazing day. I know there's a long way to go, but I am feeling very happy and hopeful. Women and girls in Ireland need to be allowed make their own choices about the direction of their lives. Thank you #8Committee #repealthe8th https://t.co/SEMVcP3Sop via @IrishTimes
— Róisín Jingle 🎄 (@roisiningle) December 13, 2017
Ms Monaghan says Abortion Rights Campaign members are cautiously optimistic and hopeful that the Government will respect the work done by the Citizen’s Assembly and the Joint Oireachtas Committee members.
“The people of Ireland have waited long enough… the vast majority of people in Ireland support repealing the 8th Amendment. ARC will continue to campaign for free, safe, legal access to abortion so as to not exclude those already marginalised in our society.”
The committee will be meeting again to agree on and prepare the final wording of the report for the Government. Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has said he would like to see a referendum on the 8th amendment in May 2018 so the wording for the referendum will have to be agreed when the Dáil resumes in mid-January.
