Michael KellyCritics saw the move as an attempt to dictate abortion policy to individual European Union governments
Irish Labour, Sinn Féin and Socialist members of the European Parliament have voted in favour of making abortion a human right.
Fine Gael, Fianna Fáil and Independent Marian Harkin all voted against adopting the controversial measure which will now go back to committee.
As well as promoting abortion as a fundamental right, the measure also sought to restrict the conscientious objection rights of pro-life doctors and health workers opposed to the killing of unborn children.
Critics saw the move as an attempt to dictate abortion policy to individual European Union governments, despite the fact that the EU has no competency when it comes to abortion which is reserved
to the individual member states.
Aside from the anti-conscientious objection language, arguably the most explosive part of the draft report is a clause that says “as a human rights concern, abortion should be made legal, safe and accessible to all.”
Controversial
Labour’s Emer Costello and Phil Prendergast supported the controversial proposal as did their former Labour colleague (now unaligned) Nessa Childers and Socialist Paul Murphy.
Sinn Féin’s Northern-based MEP Martina Anderson also voted to promote abortion as a human right.
Fine Gael’s Gay Mitchell, Mairead McGuinness, Jim Higgins and Seán Kelly all voted to refer the report back to committee. Fianna Fáil’s Liam Aylward, Brian Crowley and Pat the Cope Gallagher joined with Independent Marian Harkin in opposing the move. Both Diane Dodds of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Jim Nicholson of the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) rejected the pro-abortion move.