SAVING THE THREE DAY WAIT IS SAVING LIVES
A fundamental part of the Church’s mission is the proclamation and protection of the sacredness of human life. The Hook of Faith is committed to adding its voice to proclaiming the Gospel of life and to defending life when it is necessary. It is with interest and also concern that we follow current developments in the Oireachtas where Sinn Fein have tabled a bill to abolish the mandatory three-day wait before an abortion takes place.
A few weeks ago, the Joint Committee on Health met to discuss this bill, during which, the HSE argued that there was no clinical reason for the wait, and the week before, two representatives from the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP) made the same argument and called for the repeal of the three-day waiting period, even though they had never consulted their members about the matter. During the hearing, two GPs appeared to make the case for keeping the three-day wait. They were Kirsten Fuller and Andrew O’Regan. Drs Fuller and O’Regan both emphasised that the life of the baby must count for something and that if a life is saved by the three-day wait, then this is the ultimate clinical reason for keeping the three-day wait. Anyone who wants to get rid of the three-day wait is not only saying, in effect, that the baby in the womb counts for little unless the woman says otherwise. They are saying its life is not even worth an extra 72 hours, and therefore it counts for nothing.
Furthermore, journalist Breda O’Brien has made the point that we are told to listen to women; trust women. Women must be heard. These slogans were the cornerstone of the 2018 Repeal campaign. Yet powerful people seem unwilling to listen to one group of women – those who had an initial consultation for an abortion but decided to keep their babies during the mandatory three-day wait.
Marie O’Shea, who conducted the abortion legislation three-year review, carried out qualitative interviews with three women who chose abortion; six abortion-providing GPs, 16 hospital providers, and nine senior HSE/Department of Health officials.
But she did not conduct even one interview with a woman who did not proceed to abortion. Nor did she include an examination of HSE Primary Care Reimbursement Service figures obtained by Carol Nolan TD, which indicate that between 17 and 19 per cent of women do not return after a first consultation every year.
The ongoing debate is one that people of goodwill cannot stand idly by and watch from a distance. There are huge questions that refuse to go away and that have not been dealt with – not least: “What value, if any, or what rights, if any, do unborn children now have?” And if the fact that hundreds of people are alive today because of three day wait, is that not evidence enough for its retention?
Please find above and below, excerpts from the Joint Committee hearings
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