Will there be any legislation on abortion?

lazygal

The expert group is due to report soon. We've had the referendums, we've had the European ruling. I'm currently listening to Vincent Brown's show which is on abortion. I have a sinking feeling that this government might just bottle it if it comes to legislating on abortion.

I'm getting increasingly frustrated at the lack of any sense of leadership from the main party leaders on the issue, apart from the using fudging of the issue. I've made representations to TDs and Senators in recent weeks in support of legislating on the X case ruling and have only heard platitudes from those who bothered to reply, and a strong 'Abortion is always a bad choice' from one.

krudler

Its a no win debate for politicians, approve abortion and you lose the Catholic vote, oppose it and you lose the liberal/younger vote. Probably why so few of them want to even discuss it. Personally I think we've reached the stage where people need to accept that abortion happens, we just make women travel abroad for it instead of giving them care and support for a difficult decision here.

JamJamJamJam

I'd be surprised to see a lot of politicians being brave enough to embrace the debate. I can see it being brushed under the rug for the next while. Eventually I expect that we'll reach a point when it's unavoidable, but we are so slow to progress in this country that I don't think it will be accepted any time soon.

I also have a feeling that there is a considerable share of voters in Ireland who blindly oppose abortion, mostly because before anything else, you think that it's 'killing a baby'. That was my initial assumption at least, until I gave it a lot of thought, read up on the opposing arguments and went to a debate or two on it. There are many things to consider that would never have occurred to me. However, a lot of people won't go to the same effort. If only they were interested/concerned/? enough to look further into it, they could reach an informed conclusion. I suspect that very often, this would be in favour of its legalisation. So with some luck there'll be plenty more discussion about it in the media, but I guess there's always going to be uninformed people in the mix


Sometimes I just wish Ireland was a dictatorship and that I was the dictator :P

Nymeria

I think sadly that this issue will never be resolved properly.

I was listening to politicians from various parties on the radio this morning awkwardly dodging this question, and like the OP I got that sinking feeling that this will never properly be addressed. They kept deferring to this 'expert group report' that they are waiting on, yet another diversionary tactic. When asked who these 'experts' were, they didn't even know. This report is due out at the end of September, and by that stage I feel it will be vaguely talked about and then promptly shelved.

Unfortunately it is the pro-life that shout the loudest, even though they seem to be in the minority.

What was proposed by Cardinal Brady (IMO its none of his business but that's a whole other thread) was simply another referendum, ignoring the fact that there have already been referendums on this issue.

One of the issues is that they know that the younger generation, usually the more liberal are less likely to vote, so they pander to the older voters, who are usually more conservative.

eviltwin

Sadly I think its going to be a long long time before women in Ireland have easy access to abortion :mad:

We did legislate for abortion where the mother's life is at risk 20 yrs ago but nothing has been done to make it a reality and I think even if most people did vote for abortion tomorrow the same thing will happen. There will be excuses made as to why it can't be put into practice - clinics won't be opened, no money for staff etc

Its so frustrating, there isn't even proper aftercare, they won't even acknowledge the fact so many women are having abortions by providing decent care and support when they come home. :mad: I think if there was somewhere women could go and be open about it, it would chip away at the stigma of abortion and that in turn will help make people more open to the fact its needed badly.

28064212

krudler wrote: »

Its a no win debate for politicians, approve abortion and you lose the Catholic vote, oppose it and you lose the liberal/younger vote

Sadly, it's pretty typical for Irish parties. Say Fine Gael are forced to bring in abortion because of the legislative obligation. FF will oppose it, and slam them for it. It's inevitable, completely ignoring the fact that they are the ones that put the country in this position.

An absolutely classic (albeit trivial) example of the Government/opposition dynamic in this country: FF recently (while in opposition) decided they'd call for a 5c reduction in petrol tax. In the three budgets before FF were voted out, they increased the petrol tax by 8c, 4.2c and 4c (2009, 2010 and 2011 respectively).

They knew we couldn't afford a petrol tax, they obviously had no qualms about increasing it themselves. The only reason they suggested it was to embarrass the government and force them into an unpopular position. It's utter nonsense

The_Minister

28064212 wrote: »

Sadly, it's pretty typical for Irish parties. Say Fine Gael are forced to bring in abortion because of the legislative obligation. FF will oppose it, and slam them for it. It's inevitable, completely ignoring the fact that they are the ones that put the country in this position.

An absolutely classic (albeit trivial) example of the Government/opposition dynamic in this country: FF recently (while in opposition) decided they'd call for a 5c reduction in petrol tax. In the three budgets before FF were voted out, they increased the petrol tax by 8c, 4.2c and 4c (2009, 2010 and 2011 respectively).

They knew we couldn't afford a petrol tax, they obviously had no qualms about increasing it themselves. The only reason they suggested it was to embarrass the government and force them into an unpopular position. It's utter nonsense

In fairness to Fianna Fail (thanks, now I have to shower), the situation, particularly regarding the price of oil, and the stability of fuel-reliant industries, has changed markedly since they raised the tax.

28064212

The_Minister wrote: »

In fairness to Fianna Fail (thanks, now I have to shower), the situation, particularly regarding the price of oil, and the stability of fuel-reliant industries, has changed markedly since they raised the tax.

Between December 2011 and April 2012? The oil-price went way up at the start of 2011, Fianna Fail still raised the rates in December

Honey-ec

They (being some goverment, at some point) will legislate for it, but only after being forced to do it by the EU.

I've said to my sisters loads of times that I firmly believe this country will have legislated for proper same-sex marriage (as opposed to civil partnership) before they legislate for abortion.

The_Minister

28064212 wrote: »

Between December 2011 and April 2012? The oil-price went way up at the start of 2011, Fianna Fail still raised the rates in December

What?

Fianna Fail lost power in February 2011 - how could they have been responsible for that?

28064212

The_Minister wrote: »

What?

Fianna Fail lost power in February 2011 - how could they have been responsible for that?

....:o Got mixed up with the budgets (2011 budget was made in 2010, duh!)