Former Taoiseach John Bruton Former Taoiseach John Bruton has said that he won’t be voting in favour of repealing the Eighth Amendment and that Ireland should be “proud” of being one of very few countries which have this constitutional provision.
Speaking in Kilkenny on Sunday after the episcopal ordination of Dr Dermot Farrell as Bishop of Ossory, the former Finn Gael leader said: “To arbitrarily say that, after whatever number of weeks, it’s okay to suppress that life is just not in accordance with the values of charity towards the weak in our communities that have exemplified the Irish over the last many centuries.
Recognition
“It’s true that we are probably one of the few countries in the world that has, in our constitution, an express recognition of the right to life of the unborn child, but that’s something we should be proud of,” he said.
A referendum will be held in May to replace article 40.3.3 of the Constitution, which places an equal right to life on the unborn child and the mother, thereby prohibiting abortion in almost all cases, with the statement “Provision may be made by law for the regulation of termination of pregnancy”.
Speaking on Newstalk’s Breakfast Programme this Tuesday, Mr Bruton added that the Government or the Oireachtas Committee “didn’t seem to examine the situation of an unborn child in any great detail or examine its rights”, despite the growing medical knowledge which shows that an unborn baby can feel, react to stimuli, be seen and be recognised.