I was just about old enough to vote when Abortion first reared its head as a political and constitutional issue in this Country. It makes me shudder inside to think that I now have children who will be eligible to vote themselves in a just over two years, and yet it still goes on.
Yes, it may all have kicked off again with the awful tragedy of Savita Hallapanavar last year, but in reality, it's never really gone away. Since the first referendum in the 1980s, we've had three more (yes, three - on one day!) in 1992, in response to the 'X' case. Two of those (the Right to Travel and the Right to Information) were passed, while the third, which would have strengthened the 1980s ban, was defeated. In 2002, another referendum, again to strengthen the original ban, was also defeated by the voters.
Each time, the debate was divisive, angry and very, very bitter.
As I drove my daughter to school the other morning, we were listening to a discussion on Newstalk about it, when she started a conversation with me, that went a bit like this:
"Dad, why can't they just sort it out? They're fighting over it since that poor lady (Savita) died in Galway!".
"Believe it or not, kid," says I "they're fighting about it since I was only a little bit older than you are now."
"But Dad, it's so dumb. Why would anyone think its right for that lovely lady to die, when they knew her baby was going to die anyway? I can't understand that?"
Says I, "I guess its probably not as simple as that. There were other things went wrong too, but I see what you mean."
"No, Dad," she insisted, "It is as simple as that! Why would you let somebody die, when they have people who love them, and need them, and will be so sad, for a little baby that isn't even going to live? It doesn't make any sense."
We drove on, and talked about other things - in between her constant furious texting of her mates (you get used to it), and I thought I'd put a question to her.
"Do you think there should be Abortion here? Is it something you'd like to see when you're older?"
"Dad," she replied, "I don't think its something I would ever want - but then it's not fair for me to tell (insert name of school pal), that she can't, is it? Isn't it up to her?"
My daughter is surely wise beyond her years. For her, it's a simple matter. She doesn't think Abortion is something that she'll ever want, but she doesn't see herself as having any right to tell anyone else what to do.
She's 15, and those are the wisest words I've heard in 30 years of this crazy argument..
I'm not writing this entry to make a point or take a stand. I'm not writing it to declare myself on one side or the other. I'll be perfectly honest, I dislike the concept of Abortion. I personally would prefer if it didn't happen, or if it did happen, could only happen in a very limited, clearly defined set of circumstances, like rape, incest, or the case where a woman has been told her baby cannot and will not survive. I would be fundamentally uncomfortable with the idea that so-called "Abortion On Demand" might be available in this Country.
However, in feeling that discomfort, I also must recognise that it may be what others want, and in a free country, must ask who I am to question their right to have that.
I hate to hear the angry voices and the bitter arguments that I remember from 30 years ago, starting up again, but with age comes a better ability (I think and would hope) to listen and analyse. With that analysis comes a question, and it's a thought I'll leave you with today..
I watched Prime Time on RTE, last night. Dr. Berry Kiely of the Prolife Campaign (Christ, I hate that term) was on with Sandra McGuinness, a woman who had to go to England to terminate her pregnancy after being told her baby would not survive. She could not do it here, under any circumstances. Dr. Kiely effectively told her to her face that she had "gone to England to kill her baby.."
It left me wondering - how is it, that many of those most vehemently, most unmovingly and seemingly (to me) most cold heartedly opposed to helping women in a crisis, are women themselves?
That's the bit that really, really makes no sense.
