Mags GarganThe Minister for Health has apologised to parents in the support group Every Life Counts for his remark that unborn children with life-limiting conditions were “dead” in the womb.
Speaking in the Dáil last December on a private members’ bill tabled by Clare Daly, Minister Leo Varadkar expressed support for abortion in cases of fatal foetal abnormalities, saying the current law forces parents “against their own judgement, to explain for weeks and months to all enquirers that their baby is dead”.
Parents from Every Life Counts who had lost their babies to conditions such as anencephaly and Trisomy 13 wrote to the Minister Varadkar pointing out that his comment was misleading and had caused hurt and offence.
“You must know that our babies were alive and kicking in the womb, however severe their disability, but you chose to describe them as ‘dead’, ” wrote Tracy Harkin.
Minister Varadkar has written an apology for “any offence I may have caused” and said he would “endeavour to change the record of the Dáil to read ‘will not be born alive or is going to die’ rather than ‘is dead’, which better reflects what I was trying to say”.
Welcoming the apology, the group has however described as “bizarre” that the minister has refused to meet parents who are campaigning for better services for families in these situations.
“He wrote back to say he did not want to discuss abortion with us and that a meeting with Every Life Counts would serve ‘no purpose’,” said Ms Harkin.
“I find this response totally bizarre. Does Minister Varadkar only think of abortion when he thinks about babies like ours? We want to discuss improvements in services – and since 90% of Irish parents do not abort their babies in these circumstances, surely that’s a discussion worth having.”