Sir, - Regarding the delay in holding a referendum on abortion, as discussed at the Fianna Fail Parliamentary Party meeting on April 4th and reported in The Irish Times next day, may I second the Taoiseach's call to the party members to "become properly informed about the difficulties associated with the issue?".
Finding a wording for an amendment to the Constitution to totally ban abortion and yet not affect the medical treatment of pregnant women with life-threatening conditions is impossible. The All-Party Constitutional Review Group's report on abortion was ably chaired by Mr Brian Lenihan TD and heard many, many submissions. The committee agree there was great difficulty in formulating referendum proposals on abortion and that a constitutional ban on abortion which compromises medical practice or essential treatment to protect the life of the mother is unsafe; it would put the lives of expectant mothers at risk. From the evidence they heard from the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists they accepted that "in current obstetrical practice rare complications can arise where therapeutic intervention is required at a stage in pregnancy when there would be little or no prospect for the survival of the baby, due to extreme immaturity" (Fifth Progress Report, pages 114/115).
In the Irish Medical Journal, February 2001, on page 54, there is a case report on the termination of the pregnancy of a gravely ill woman at 21 weeks' gestation, long before the child was viable. (We have to have some medical definition of abortion to work on and most medical dictionaries favour words to the effect that it is the termination of a pregnancy before the child is viable, that is before the child can live independently outside the womb.) The case report ends with the following paragraph: "Our report supports the fact that in current obstetrical practice, intervention to end the pregnancy when there is no prospect for the survival of the baby can be required to save the mother's life."
We cannot allow any situation to arise where medical intervention to save a woman's life through the termination of her pregnancy such as described in the case above could be hindered by objections, perhaps from a third party unconnected with the case. - Yours, etc.,
Senator Mary Henry, MD, Seanad Eireann, Baile Atha Cliath, 2.