The Government has ruled out any review of current abortion legislation in light of revelations in The Irish Times yesterday that gardaí are investigating two illegal back-street abortions which were performed on non-national women in Dublin in the last two months.
Opposition parties have called for action to ensure non-nationals experiencing crisis pregnancies are not isolated and will not feel the need to resort to back-street terminations.
Gardaí at Pearse Street and the Bridewell are continuing their investigations into the abortions carried out on a Filipino national and a Romanian national, both in their early 20s. A Moldovan woman who gardaí suspect carried out at least one of the abortions, at an apartment in Dublin 7 for €500, has fled the State.
The woman had brought a suction pump and chemicals into the country and set up a make-shift abortion clinic at an apartment in Blackhall Place, which she advertised in ethnic shops as "gynaecological services".
A number of opposition TDs, including Mr Joe Higgins of the Socialist Party, and Mr Ciarán Cuffe of the Green Party, tried unsuccessfully to have the business of the Dáil suspended to allow for a debate on the issue before the house broke for the summer yesterday.
The Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, took the order of business in the absence of the Taoiseach and Tánaiste. He was asked by Mr Higgins if the Government would examine legislative changes to resolve the "human tragedy" of back-street abortions.
Mr Smith replied: "The Taoiseach has indicated in this house on a number of occasions that no new legislation is planned in this area. That remains the position."
Fine Gael's spokeswoman on health, Ms Olivia Mitchell, said, "It requires a special effort to ensure that the public health issues of our immigrant community are being addressed. Now that we have realised that backstreet abortions are posing such a significant health risk we must act immediately to develop a response as part of the overall programme."
Labour's deputy leader and spokeswoman on health, Ms Liz McManus, described yesterday's disclosure as "truly shocking".
"The real danger now is that back-street abortionists may be preying on non-national women, whose legal status in this country may be uncertain," Ms McManus said.
The Minister for Justice should give a clear commitment that any women who travel outside Ireland for any medical procedure will be readmitted to this country, she said.
