Senator Rónán Mullen. The Government’s Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Bill is on its Second Stage debate in the Seanad. The aim of this bill is to “regulate the provision of any treatment or procedure for the purposes of surrogacy … for the purposes of stablishing or preserving the possibility of establishing a pregnancy and to prohibit AHR treatment unless the person holds a licence… to provide certain rights for a person born as a result of AHR treatment to access information concerning his or her origins; to provide for a comprehensive regulatory scheme”, according to the May 31, 2024, document passed by Dáil Éireann.
Senator Rónán Mullen has condemned this Bill on June 13, calling “at a minimum” for a pause on the far-reaching provisions on surrogacy added to the Bill in recent months. “There has been very little public discussion of this Bill, it has passed the Dáil without, to my knowledge, a single vote being called, and the national media have failed to shine a light on the controversial, and potentially bizarre, nature of some of its provisions,” Senator Mullen says.
“This is the exploitation of the poor and the commodification, the buying and selling of children. Our responsibilities under the UN Rights of the Child are being ignored in deference to the rights of financially advantaged individuals or couples,” said Mr Mullen, who also points out that “of its nature, international surrogacy is commercial and conflicts with our duties under the UN Declaration of Human Rights, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Slavery Convention of 1926”.
This bill raises significant ethical questions. Senator Mullen claims a necessity for public scrutiny and ensuring the protection of children’s rights in line with international human rights standards