Greg Daly
Mary McAleese speaking on RTE's Today with Sean O'Rourke The Pro Life Campaign (PLC) has rejected suggestions by former president Mary McAleese that the Eighth Amendment may no longer be fit for purpose, saying Ireland remains one of the world’s safest places for pregnant women.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Sean O’Rourke, Mrs McAleese said she had not decided how she would vote in the upcoming referendum, but that she had found “quite compelling” the statements made to the Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment by leading pro-choice obstetricians Peter Boylan and Rhona Mahony.
Mrs McAleese praised how innovative the Eighth Amendment had been in protecting the rights of expectant mothers, describing it as a “very important advance at that time”. Her problem now, she said, is that she has questions around whether it continues to do this effectively.
“I would say at the moment that the information that was given by the obstetricians is really quite compelling as to how effective the Eighth is in what it was designed to do in the first place, that it has raised really profound questions for someone like me who is really strongly pro-life,” she said.
Suggestions
She dismissed suggestions that removing the Eighth Amendment would mean that the Government’s plan to introduce unrestricted access to abortion during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy would come to pass.
“That’s a different matter because those are two different models,” she said, adding, “once we go down that road, that’ll be left to the legislature, that’ll be left to the Oireachtas.”
Dr Ruth Cullen of the PLC has, however, rejected the notion that Ireland’s constitutional protections for the unborn are endangering women.
“A point that cannot be stated often enough is that Ireland is one of the safest countries in the world in which to be pregnant,” she told The Irish Catholic. “England, where abortion is widely available, is not as safe as Ireland is for pregnant women. So I feel it’s really important people are reassured on this point.”
Noting how Mrs McAleese had said she intends to study the Government’s proposals, Dr Cullen pointed out that “if repeal happens, there is really no disputing the fact that all meaningful protection for unborn babies will disappear”.