MARY HARNEY, TD,
Sir, - I reject the political charge in your Editorial of February 4th that I have "gone back on my word" in relation to the abortion referendum.
Once the Oireachtas has passed a law providing for a referendum, it is not the Taoiseach's, the Tánaiste's or the Government's prerogative to hold a referendum or not.
Article 46.2 of the Constitution states that every proposal for amendment of the Constitution which has been passed by the Houses of the Oireachtas "shall be submitted by Referendum to the decision of the people in accordance with the law". By law, the Minister for the Environment and Local Government has discretion in relation to the date only.
I voted for the Twenty-Fifth Amendment Bill in Dáil Eireann because I believe the proposal is a step forward for women. It protects medical interventions in pregnancy necessary to save a woman's life. It gives doctors legal certainty in their care of women patients. It protects a woman's relationship with her doctor from third parties who would seek to make constitutional points out of a woman's difficult medical circumstances.
The proposal also ensures that the morning-after pill will not be rendered illegal by court challenge.
The fact that such a challenge is already being made by people who hold extreme views shows that we need this law to safeguard a woman's right to emergency contraception.
As your Editorial - and, indeed, that of last October accepted - this is an honest compromise. The absence of political consensus across parties does not detract from that. It is an attempt to deal with the issue in a way which can work within our present Constitution and which has a reasonable prospect of commanding support. No other proposal which has been canvassed in recent weeks or months commands wider support.
Ultimately, the law and the Constitution belong to citizens. We all want people to be very well informed before voting in a referendum and, ideally, even before a referendum date is set. The task in hand now is to inform people fully, so they can pass their judgment on what is the Government's best effort to meet its obligations under the Constitution. - Yours, etc.
MARY HARNEY, TD, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Dublin 2.