During the debate on the Bill to provide for the 25th Amendment to the Constitution, Dr Maurice Hayes (Ind) said he did not think that abortion was a suitable subject for referendum. "I think we should have had the courage to legislate, as we were asked to do on different occasions, and be finished with it."
Dr Hayes said legislators did not want in any sense to cheapen respect for human life. However, he did not think that the way to safeguard such an approach was by enshrining it in the Constitution in a way that boiled down extremely complex and intimate circumstances for individuals to the sort of simplistic verities that were thrown around in the tabloid press and in political argument.
Dr Hayes said he also had concerns about the exclusion of suicide as a factor. Doctors were to be trusted to run the regime being proposed, but psychiatrists would not be.
Mr John Dardis (PD), deputy Government leader in the House, noted that there was a fracturing of consensus that had developed with increasing force. "It leads me to the conclusion that to proceed to a referendum at this stage would be unwise. We need to recover the middle ground, not to divide the country."
It was unfortunate that there appeared to be so little room in our media for the middle moderate ground, which was represented by the Bill. "Only conflict and polarisation are newsworthy and that, in turn, leads to the promotion of extreme views and language. The two extremes in this debate are very well known.
"At one extreme there is a complete disregard for the help of the mother. At the other extreme there is a demand for abortion to be made available almost for social reasons. Most people reject both of those positions."
Ms Helen Keogh (FG) described the Bill as one of the most cynical exercises she had seen. A measure that purported to protect human life in pregnancy did the opposite by removing the so-called self-destruction clause. The Bill would not solve the problem of crisis pregnancy. "Abortion is a personal, moral, ethical and social issue which has no place in any constitution."
She had been incensed at the Taoiseach's reply to the Fine Gael leader, Mr Noonan, where Mr Ahern had stated that the legislative vacuum must be filled.
The Taoiseach had also stated that if legal provision were to be made for suicide risk, a system of psychiatric assessment and court supervision would almost inevitably follow. If that were to happen, even if it were initially done on a narrow basis, the scene would be set for a gradual introduction of "social abortion" in Ireland.
"What an insult to Irish women," Ms Keogh said. "What compassion is evident in that statement? What acknowledgement of the heartbreak involved in making the decision to embark on the lonely road to England?
Mr Joe Costello (Lab) said the legislative approach being taken by the Government was an updated version of the old concept that Eamon de Valera had of colleens dancing at the crossroads, everything being hunky-dory, everything so simple and no complications.
"Women were in the right place. Men controlled the entire situation . . . I think that that is at the heart of this legislation, a last-gasp effort for control by a male-dominated society."
Mr Denis O'Donovan (FF) said claims were being made about constitutional difficulties relating to the legislation, but these amounted to a red herring. The issues about which concerns had been raised in the Dβil and had been given the all-clear by the Attorney General.
Mr Feargal Quinn (Ind) said his objection to the Bill was not so much that the solution was messy, or inelegant - though it was certainly both of those - but it risked leaving us in a situation that would be virtually impossible to undo, if at some future stage we found that things did not work out.
Mr Des Hannafin (FF), a leading anti-abortion campaigner, said the proposed amendment would ensure that Ireland remained the safest country in the world in which to be pregnant. There was a much calmer atmosphere surrounding the issue now. This afforded the opportunity for senators and others to work together to create something meaningful and lasting to help reduce the abortion rate.
Dr Mary Henry (Ind) said she had written to the Taoiseach recently asking why we could not leave things alone. "This letter was similar to words I used in 1983. I remember saying that mothers and babies were safe at that time. Why could we not leave the situation alone?" The second stage of the Bill was passed by 27 votes to 18.