The Pro Life Campaign has said that today’s proceedings at the Oireachtas Committee looking at the upcoming legislation on abortion was “a rude awakening” for anyone who thought the new abortion law would be restrictive.
Commenting on today’s proceedings, Dr Ruth Cullen of the Pro Life Campaign said: “Today’s committee hearings brought into sharp focus the extreme nature of the abortion law about to be introduced. It’s a definite rude awakening for anyone who thought the law would be somewhat restrictive.”
Dr Cullen said: “It was like watching a replay of the choreographed sessions of the same committee that took place prior to the referendum. The proposed legislation appears to be getting more extreme by the minute based on what happened today. The calls by Dr Peter Boylan and others to consider shelving the three day waiting period for abortion was probably predictable but it’s also sad that all the focus is on speeding up abortions, leaving little or no time for women to reflect on the enormity of what the procedure involves. Some argued today at the committee that it is paternalistic to have a three day waiting period before an abortion takes place. It would be more fitting to describe as paternalistic denying a woman access to full information on what precisely an abortion involves and the possible negative after effects it can have for some women.
Dr Cullen concluded: “It is clear Health Minister Simon Harris and others in government have no interest in hearing perspectives other than ones that zealously back abortion. It is going to take time but the public will realise the full extent of the charade that is going on when the reality of what the abortion law permits starts to sink in.”
ENDS