Measures to prevent unwanted pregnancies were called for by Mr Robert Cochran, secretary and convenor of the Methodist Church in Ireland. "Certainly, if there was a culture which maximised the use of contraception where sexual activities took place . . . that would seem, logically, to reduce the likelihood of people seeking abortion. So the more there is counselling and information . . . one would hope that it would minimise those seeking abortions."
He was not sure, he added, anything would totally stop the demand for abortion, but at least it could be reduced. In its submission to the committee, the Methodist Church called for the issue to be dealt with by way of legislation, rather than in a constitutional referendum.
"The constitutional route is, we believe, inappropriate, both because it is too blunt an instrument for such issues, giving rise to the danger of neglecting real issues through over-simplification, but also because the Constitution is inherently the wrong place for such specific matters." Rather, the Constitution was "the place for laying down general principles for guiding legislation and establishing the outer boundaries of behaviour necessary to maintain the integrity of society", the submission said. The church had "opposed the previous referendums on principle, irrespective of the content."
The submission argued for the introduction of "carefully drafted, sensitive but restrictive legislation", adding that complex social issues required a comprehensive and detailed approach. That approach was possible with legislation, but impossible in a few words in a constitutional amendment. However, Mr Cochran told the committee members that a referendum to give an endorsement to a legislative course of action might be valuable. The submission said abortion on demand was wrong. "We believe that a foetus cannot be regarded as just an appendage of the mother's body, but that as it evolves towards personhood, so it should progressively be accorded rights culminating with full respect as an individual on birth."
It added abortion was a permissible choice in a small number of very specific cases: where the mother's life was at risk, where there was a risk of grave injury to the physical or mental health of the mother, in cases of rape or incest, as well as gross abnormality of the foetus, such as anencephaly. The submission added that the Methodist Church favoured a pluralist democratic society where all shades of opinion were treated with respect. "In keeping with the general nature of such a society, the approach should be to give maximum individual freedom, and should only restrict such freedom where there is a clear and unmistakable social necessity. There are many aspects of social behaviour of which we might disapprove, but that is not in itself a ground for considering legislation."
