Green paper on abortion Item Type Report Authors Department of the Taoiseach Rights Government of Ireland Download date 28/09/2021 17:36:24 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10147/45549 Find this and similar works at - http://www.lenus.ie/hse DEPARTMENT OF THE TAOISEACH – GREEN PAPER ON ABORTION Green Paper on Abortion - 1 - DEPARTMENT OF THE TAOISEACH – GREEN PAPER ON ABORTION Contents Introduction Terms of Reference Chapter 1 Pregnancy and Maternal Health Chapter 2 The Legal Context Chapter 3 The State's Obligations under International and EU Law Chapter 4 Other Grounds for Abortion, set in an International Context Chapter 5 The Submissions to the Interdepartmental Working Group Chapter 6 The Social Context Chapter 7 Possible Constitutional and Legislative Approaches Glossary of Medical Terms Appendices Appendix 1 Extracts from documents referred to in Terms of Reference 130 Appendix 2 Statistics on Irish women who have had abortions in England 132 and Wales Appendix 3 The Law Relating to Abortion in Selected other Jurisdictions 135 Appendix 4 Submissions Received 155 Appendix 5 Extract from Report of the Constitution Review Group 158 - 2 - DEPARTMENT OF THE TAOISEACH – GREEN PAPER ON ABORTION Introduction Abortion is an issue which has been the subject of intense and, indeed, divisive debate in practically every society. Over the past fifteen years or so, this debate has been particularly intense and divisive in this country. In 1983, following a vigorous campaign by a number of groups who felt that there should be a specific constitutional prohibition on abortion, an amendment was made to the Constitution which sought to give effect to that aspiration. There was, however, at the time the contrary view that the Constitution already contained sufficient safeguards in relation to abortion and that the amendment was unnecessary and could possibly lead to ambiguities. In 1992, a case, which has become known as the X case, came before the Supreme Court where it was decided that, under the Constitution, abortion is permissible in the State where the continuation of the pregnancy poses a real and substantial risk to the life, as opposed to the health, of the mother and where such a risk could not be averted except by means of an abortion. A substantial risk to the life of the mother included a risk of suicide. This decision and its implications have been vigorously debated. The X case concerned a minor who became pregnant as a result of a criminal offence and both she and her parents wished her to have an abortion in England. Since the Abortion Act of 1967 in England and Wales, at least 95,000 women giving an address in this country have had abortions there. Following concerns raised by the X case and in the light of a ruling by the European Court of Human Rights in relation to the provision of information, amendments were inserted into the Constitution in 1992 which provided that the freedom to travel abroad should not be limited and that information on abortion services abroad should be obtainable in legally defined circumstances. At the same time, a proposed amendment to deal with the substantive issue of the X case but excluding the risk of suicide was rejected by the electorate. The implications of this case are discussed more fully in Chapter 2. The current situation therefore is that, constitutionally, termination of pregnancy is not legal in this country unless it meets the conditions laid down by the Supreme Court in the X case; information on abortion services abroad can be provided within the terms of the Regulation of Information (Services outside the State for Termination of Pregnancies) Act, 1995; and, in general, women can travel abroad for an abortion. There are strong bodies of opinion which express dissatisfaction with the current situation, whether in relation to the permissibility of abortion in the State or to the numbers of women travelling abroad for abortion. Various options have been proposed to resolve what is termed the "substantive issue" of abortion but there is a wide diversity of views on how to proceed. The Taoiseach indicated shortly after the Government took office in 1997 that it was intended to issue a Green Paper on the subject. The implications of the X case were again brought sharply into focus in November 1997 as a result of the C Case, and a Cabinet Committee was established to oversee the drafting of this Green Paper, the preparatory work on which was carried out by an interdepartmental group of officials. While the issues surrounding abortion are extremely complex, the objective of this Green Paper is to set out the issues, to provide a brief analysis of them and to consider possible options for the resolution of the problem. The Paper does not attempt to address every single issue in relation to abortion, nor to give an exhaustive analysis of each. Every effort has been made to concentrate on the main issues and to discuss them in a clear, concise and objective way. - 3 - DEPARTMENT OF THE TAOISEACH – GREEN PAPER ON ABORTION Submissions were invited from interested members of the public, professional and voluntary organisations and any other parties who wished to contribute. It was hoped that the submissions would help to inform the Group about the matters which are of public concern, and to identify possible options for resolving them. There was an unprecedented response of over 10,000 submissions, with further petitions containing some 36,500 signatures. The Government would like to thank all of those who submitted their views. Some of the submissions were very detailed and the authors had clearly given considerable thought to the issue. A wide range of views was expressed on what is clearly a matter of great concern to many people, as well as one which involves a significant number of Irish women every year making a difficult and often lonely decision to have an abortion abroad. It is important to stress that the purpose of inviting submissions was to inform the process of the preparation of the Green Paper on the range of issues surrounding the debate on abortion and to obtain the views of individuals and organisations thereon and not to conduct a plebiscite or a weighing of public opinion on the course of action the Government should take. While mindful of the submissions received, the Government has been anxious to discuss the range of views and arguments contained in the submissions as a whole, unpalatable though some may be to many people. Very few medical bodies or organisations made submissions. While the Government recognises that, as with society generally, members of these bodies have a range of views on the issue, it nonetheless considers that it would be helpful to have the benefit of the opinions and expertise of their memberships on the abortion issue. The broad approach to the preparation of the Green Paper has been twofold. In the first place the constitutional and legal issues raised by the court cases referred to in the terms of reference, and the possible options for addressing these, are discussed. However, the Government has been concerned to recognise that the cases which were the subject of these legal proceedings were not representative of the majority of cases in which Irish women decide to travel abroad to have an abortion. A significant number of submissions placed the issue in a wider social context and the Green Paper also discusses factors which have been identified as coming within this category. In Chapter 1 of the Green Paper the medical issues which arise in relation to the treatment of pregnant women and which form part of the debate on abortion are discussed. Chapter 2 deals with the legal issues raised by the courts' interpretation of the Constitution and the law in relation to abortion. Chapter 3 details Ireland's obligations under international and European Union law and considers what implications these obligations might have for constitutional or legal change in relation to abortion. Wider grounds for abortion are examined in an international context in Chapter 4. A summary of the issues raised in the submissions received is contained in Chapter 5. Chapter 6 discusses the social context of abortion. Possible constitutional and legislative approaches to addressing the issues identified in the Green Paper are discussed in Chapter 7. - 4 - DEPARTMENT OF THE TAOISEACH – GREEN PAPER ON ABORTION Terms of Reference The text of this Green Paper has been decided by a Cabinet Committee established to oversee the work of an Interdepartmental Working Group whose task was to carry out the preparatory work on the Green Paper. The Interdepartmental Working Group had the following Terms of Reference: "Having regard to: Section 58 of the Offences against the Person Act, 1861* ; Section 59 of the Offences against the Person Act, 1861* ; Article 40. 3.3 of Bunreacht na hEireann* ; The decision of the Supreme Court on 5 March 1992 in the Attorney General v X and Others [1992] 1 I.R. 1; Protocol No. 17 to the Maastricht Treaty on European Union signed in February 1992 and the Solemn Declaration of 1 May 1992 on that Protocol*; The decision of the people in the Referendum of 25 November 1992 to reject the proposed Twelfth Amendment of the Constitution; The decision of the High Court on 28 November 1997 in A & B v Eastern Health Board, Judge Mary Fahy, C and the Attorney General (Notice Party); and having considered the constitutional, legal, medical, moral, social and ethical issues which arise regarding abortion and having invited views from interested parties on these issues, to prepare a Green Paper on the options available in the matter." The Cabinet Committee was chaired by Mr Brian Cowen T.D., Minister for Health and Children and the other members were Ms Mary O'Rourke, T.D, Minister for Public Enterprise, Mr John O'Donoghue T.D., Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr David Byrne S.C., Attorney General (up to July, 1999), Mr Michael McDowell S.C., Attorney General (from July, 1999) and Ms Liz O'Donnell T.D., Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs.