The Progressive Democrats appear set to resist the holding of a Government-sponsored abortion referendum as Ministers prepare for months of debate after the publication of the all-party report on the issue.
As the Cabinet subcommittee on abortion prepares to meet next week, senior PD sources said they did not have an agreed position and were likely to argue against holding a referendum. However, the PDs are divided on the referendum option contained in the report and supported by Fianna Fail.
"There are different views in the party", a senior source said last night. But the Tanaiste's statement this week that she is opposed to a "divisive and bitter referendum" will be carried into the Cabinet subcommittee, the sources said.
The subcommittee is chaired by the Minister for Health, Mr Martin. The other members are the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue; the Minister for Public Enterprise, Ms O'Rourke; the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Ms Liz O'Donnell; and the Attorney General, Mr Michael McDowell.
PD sources said they would seek cross-party consensus on how to proceed, and repeated their determination to have a free vote on any Dail division. While the party has not said it will oppose holding a referendum, Ms Harney said this week it would not be bound by a Government decision it did not agree with.
PD sources said a cross-party free vote would remove interparty division from the debate and ease conflict between the Government partners. However, Fine Gael and Fianna Fail spokesmen said there had been no decision on a free vote.
The four Independent TDs who support the Government and have been seeking a referendum by next June did not put pressure on the Government last night to set a referendum date. The most prominent of the four on the abortion issue, Ms Mildred Fox, said that while she would like to see a referendum by the summer, she was "reluctant to set an unrealistic timetable".
Mr Harry Blaney stressed that in the past he had said only that he would "consider" withdrawing his support if a referendum was not held. Mr Tom Gildea said he wanted one "as soon as possible" but he was aware of "the practicalities". Mr Jackie Healy-Rae said he was happy there would be a referendum.
The Pro-Life Campaign said that of the three options in the all-party report, "the third approach appears to contain the basis for a satisfactory resolution of the issue". This is the approach favoured by Fianna Fail of holding a referendum on legislation to roll back the X case judgment.
The Cabinet subcommittee on abortion will now consider the report of the All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution, published yesterday, which has outlined three options for consideration. Government sources said the subcommittee's deliberations would continue well into the new year, and the issue would then be referred to the Cabinet.
The option in the report favoured by Fianna Fail, the four pro-Government Independents and the Pro-Life Campaign involves holding a referendum on a Bill to reverse the Supreme Court ruling in the X case. The 1992 decision ruled that a threat of suicide could amount to a substantial risk to the life of a pregnant woman, making an abortion permissible.
The option favoured by Fine Gael involves taking no action to change the Constitution or to introduce legislation. Instead, a £50 million 10-year plan should be initiated to reduce the number of crisis pregnancies, to cut the numbers of abortions through promoting alternatives, and to provide post-abortion counselling and medical services.
The option favoured by the Labour members involves introducing legislation on the basis of the X case, allowing for abortion where there is a real and substantial risk to the woman's life from a threat of suicide.
While the committee split three ways on the legislative and constitutional options, all parties agreed to the Fine Gael proposal for the £50 million plan. Mr Jim O'Keeffe said this was the only practical response to the fact that more than 100,000 Irish women had had abortions since the British Abortion Act of 1967. "As I seen it, any legislation or change in the Constitution will not affect one single abortion," he said.