About 100,000 Irish women have had abortions since the 1983 abortion referendum, the Labour spokesman on public enterprise, Mr Emmet Stagg (Labour, Kildare North) told the House: "These are not cold statistics. They are the real-life experiences of our daughters, grand-daughters, our wives and our partners.
"Abortion is a reality in Ireland. Abortion will remain a reality in Ireland, no matter what happens this ludicrous constitutional amendment." During the resumed debate on the 25th Amendment to the Constitution (Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy) Bill, paving the way for next year's abortion referendum, Mr Stagg said the debate was about geography.
"What seems to matter to the Taoiseach, to the Fianna Fβil party, to the pro-life movement, and now the Progressive Democrats, is not if abortions happen, but where abortions happen.
"To this end, thousands of women every years are sent abroad so that the myth that Ireland is abortion free can be maintained. This referendum is another attempt to shore up that meaningless myth.
"If women have to borrow from moneylenders to fund a trip to England, so be it. If women have to place their health at risk by having late abortions, so be it. If women have to engage in stories of a weekend away in London to maintain their privacy, so be it." He added it was shocking that the Progressive Democrats were willing to support a constitutional amendment which denigrated and belittled women. "Is their love of power and perks such that Deputies Harney and O'Donnell are willing to turn a blind eye to the most anti-woman piece of legislation brought before this House in decades?"
The Wicklow Independent, Ms Mildred Fox, who lobbied the Government for a referendum, said there was no magic wand to stop women travelling abroad for abortions.
"The argument put forward, from some quarters, that it was time we all grew up, including those of us in the pro-life campaign, and acknowledged that so many women were travelling abroad, and introduce abortion, is a ridiculous argument.
"Yes, a number of Irish women have abortions abroad, and, yes, a number of women will still travel abroad to have abortions, following the introduction of this Bill. And while we can do nothing about that fact, we do still have control over this jurisdiction and we should still have a say in how our country is shaped. It is up to us to decide whether it is acceptable to legalise abortion or criminalise it, regardless of what the laws are in our neighbouring countries."
Ms Frances Fitzgerald (FG, Dublin South-East) predicted that the Bill would be seen "as the most unreal, time-warped" reflection on Irish society, social policy and Government hypocrisy.
"It is utterly extraordinary, on the one hand to talk of excluding suicide and criminalizing a desperate woman and threatening her with 12 years imprisonment if she attempts to get an abortion for herself, and on the other hand, to protest so loudly that this legislation will in no way deter such a woman from going to England for an abortion."
