Nuala O’Loan
The View
On May 25, the people of Ireland will be able to vote on whether the Eighth Amendment to the Irish Constitution should be repealed. That amendment reads: ”The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right.”
It is profoundly important that every reader of this newspaper, every Catholic, and as many others as possible vote No, and ensure that the Eighth Amendment with its protection, not just for the unborn child, but also for the mother is retained. Many people will also vote No for ethical or philosophical reasons, believing that the child in the womb has the right to life.
Every Catholic, as a Catholic, is under a duty to vote No. Our Faith teaches us that “human life must be respected and protected from the moment of conception. From the first moment of existence, a human being must be recognised as having the rights of a person – among which is the inviolable right of every innocent being to life” and we are told by God: “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.”
There are no qualifications to this teaching, though the Church recognises that on occasions necessary action can be taken to preserve the mother’s life, even though the child will die. The important thing here is that the intention is to save the mother’s life, not to kill the unborn child.
Wording
This situation is recognised by the wording of the Eighth Amendment, and in such situations Irish hospitals can act to save the mother’s life, even though the unborn child will die.
Eminent physicians in Ireland have testified to this fact, among them Prof. Eamon McGuinness, a consultant obstetrician and former chairman of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, who wrote recently in the Irish Times that “I served Irish women and their children under the auspices of the Eighth Amendment”.
Referring to how a “sustained campaign has been waged by some people, including several of my colleagues in obstetrics and gynaecology, to suggest that the words above [of the Eighth Amendment] put women’s lives at risk”, he said: “If that were true, I myself would be leading the charge to have them expunged from the Constitution. A constitutional restriction on my ability, or the ability of any of my colleagues, to save the life of a pregnant woman would indeed be intolerable. Let me therefore be clear: no such restriction exists.
“The Eighth Amendment has one medical effect only: it prevents Irish doctors from deliberately, as an elective matter, causing the death of an unborn child. It awards to the child in the womb the right to have their life protected in Irish hospitals, in Irish GP surgeries, and in Irish operating theatres.
“That right does not restrict doctors from acting to save the life of a woman where a serious complication arises.”
He went on to quote the Irish Medical Council guidelines which oblige doctors to act, even if that means the baby’s life may be lost. Those guidelines state that: “During pregnancy, rare complications can arise where a therapeutic intervention is required which may result in there being little or no hope of the baby surviving. In these exceptional circumstances, it may be necessary to terminate the pregnancy to protect the life of the mother while making every effort to preserve the life of the baby.”
There is no inconsistency between the words of the Eighth Amendment and the teaching of the Catholic Church.
Knowing what the Catholic Church teaches, and knowing the situation which exists under the Eighth Amendment and through the Irish Medical Council Guidelines, any Catholic should vote No. Catholics cannot be Catholic and be pro-choice! Surely all Catholics must recognise that they have a duty to go and vote on May 25 and to vote No, and thereby to save the Eighth Amendment .
There has been much misinformation. For example, Savita Halappanavar died in Galway University Hospital on October 28, 2012. Three separate inquiries into her death found that she died of sepsis – an infection of the blood caused by an extremely virulent bacteria, Ecoli ESBL, rarely seen in Irish maternal health services. An HSE inquiry also found that the bacteria was also the most likely cause of Savita’s miscarriage.
The inquiries found that Savita’s case had been medically mismanaged in the hospital, with the HIQA inquiry pointing to 13 missed opportunities to save her life. HIQA said that their findings “reflect a failure in the provision of the most basic elements of patient care to Savita Halappanavar and also the failure to recognise and act upon signs of her clinical deterioration in a timely and appropriate manner”.
Savita Halappanavar’s tragic death was caused by sepsis which was not properly managed. It was not caused by the Eighth Amendment, as has been said.
Among many suggestions to prevent future deaths by medical misadventure, the Coroner suggested, among other things, that the Medical Council should lay out exactly when a doctor can intervene to save the life of the mother in similar circumstances, which would remove doubt and fear from the doctor and also reassure the public, and that An Bord Altranais should have similar directives for midwives so that the two professions always complement one another. He also recommended protocols for the management of sepsis, proper communication, proper training and guidelines for all medical and nursing personnel.
It does not matter that others do not agree. The facts are as stated above.
Compassion
Catholics should vote No, even though others try to say that compassion, respect, dignity demand a yes vote. Compassion is necessary, but compassion means that Catholics must vote No because to do otherwise is to vote not just for the repeal of the Eighth Amendment but for the introduction of abortion on demand up to 12 weeks after conception. International experience shows that once abortion is on the statute books it will inevitably be extended beyond the 12 weeks.
Compassion demands that we look after both mother and child, not choosing one above the other. The unborn, defenceless child must be protected. That is what compassion demands. Each unborn child has life, and to act deliberately to kill it, to terminate its life, is profoundly wrong.
Catholics need to be very clear about this. Every Catholic has a duty to encourage others to understand what our Church teaches us, and, knowing that the unborn child has the right to protection from the moment of conception, to vote No and to save the Eighth Amendment.