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 A Slap in the Face
Divisions within the Pro-Life movement may have accounted for the slim final margin, but proponents of legal abortion felt they had defended the Catholic Church in a national referendum campaign.

By Kieron Wood

The moral authority of the Catholic bishops of Ireland suffered a devastating blow with the results of Ireland’s abortion referendum on March 6.

The bishops had unanimously backed the government’s proposal to outlaw suicide as a ground for abortion. But despite a concerted campaign to persuade Catholic voters to back the measure, the proposition was defeated by 629,041 to 618,485, a majority of just over 10,500 votes—or 50.42 to 49.48 percent.

The constitutional referendum was intended to overturn the 1992 decision of the Irish Supreme Court in the so-called X Case.

Background
In 1983, the Irish Constitution had been amended as a result of pressure from pro-life groups. By a majority of two to one, the Irish people had voted to insert a new section into their constitution. Article 40.3.3 read: “The state acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right.”

Nine years later, the parents of a 14-year-old girl—who had become pregnant as a result of a sexual assault by a middle-aged businessman—announced that they intended to take her to England for an abortion. The girl had threatened to throw herself downstairs if she was not permitted to have the abortion. The High Court ordered the girl not to go, but the Supreme Court overturned that decision.

The Chief Justice, Mr. Justice Thomas Finlay, said the correct interpretation of Article 40.3.3 was that: “If it is established as a matter of probability that there is a real and substantial risk to the life (as distinct from the health) of the mother, which can only be avoided by the termination of her pregnancy, such termination is permissible.”

The judges did not set any time limit on terminations, which meant that, in theory, abortions were available in Ireland right up until birth.

Despite the court ruling, abortion has not been available in practice in Ireland, because the Medical Council forbids doctors to carry out terminations of pregnancy. Irish women who want an abortion are forced to travel abroad. An estimated 7,000 Irish woman a year have abortions in Britain.

In an effort to remove the “suicide option,” Ireland’s ruling Fianna Fáil coalition government had promised to give the people a chance to change the Constitution again. The proposal was cobbled together following years of political and religious wrangling and bickering.

Effects of the proposal
The referendum proposed to insert the Protection of Human Life in Pregnancy Bill into the Constitution.

The bill would have allowed a doctor to carry out a procedure resulting in the death of an unborn child if the doctor reasonably believed it was necessary to prevent a “real and substantial risk of loss of the woman’s life, other than by self-destruction.” (This would have done no more than confirm current Medical Council guidelines, which allow indirect abortion in cases such as ectopic pregnancy and cancer of the uterus.)

The bill banned any other abortions, with a penalty of up to 12 years imprisonment for anyone attempting to have an abortion. The measure did not limit the freedom of Irish women to travel abroad for an abortion, or restrict the distribution in Ireland of information about foreign abortion clinics.

The language of the bill was complex to the point of obscurity. The section to be inserted into the Constitution included one sentence of 125 words, which was just about incomprehensible to everyone except legal experts.

Crucially, the bill defined abortion as the “intentional destruction by any means of unborn human life after implantation in the womb,” rather than from the moment of conception.

Pro-life opponents of the measure claimed it would legalize the “morning-after pill” and could lead to embryonic experimentation. Former High Court judge Rory O’Hanlon said the proposal would “greatly worsen the legal protection afforded to unborn human beings.” Dana Rosemary Scallon, the singer-turned-politician who has been a major figure in the Irish pro-life movement, was another who called for a No vote.

The official Pro-Life Campaign, representing the majority of pro-life voters, insisted that the legislation did not undermine the existing constitutional protection of the unborn between conception and implantation.

The bishops’ entry
The referendum date was announced last October, while Cardinal Desmond Connell of Dublin and Irish primate Archbishop Seán Brady were in Rome for the month-long Synod of Bishops. As a result, the Catholic bishops did not announce their position on the amendment until December, by which time the arguments of the pro-life ‘No’ campaign had convinced many Catholic voters.

Many pro-life groups expected the Catholic bishops to urge a ‘No’ vote, especially after Cardinal Alfonso López Trujillo, president of the Pontifical Council for the Family, was reported as telling a meeting in Rome last November that he expected the Irish bishops to come out against the proposal.

But in fact the bishops decided otherwise. In a statement on December 12, they said they were satisfied that the “specific and particular protection” offered to the unborn by the new proposal did not dilute or weaken the general protection already afforded by the Constitution.

“We share the concern of many groups and individuals that the new proposal strengthens legal protection for the unborn only after implantation in the womb,” they said. “We understand the reluctance of many who are opposed to abortion to vote for a measure which does not seem to vindicate the right to life of the unborn from the moment of conception.”

The bishops answered that argument:

However, it is our conviction that the new proposal represents a considerable improvement on the existing situation, and that it does not in itself deny or devalue the worth and dignity of the human embryo prior to implantation.

Catholic voters should feel free in conscience to support this measure, even if it is viewed as less than might have been desired.

More than 100 evangelical Christian leaders backed the call for a ‘Yes’ vote. But other churches disagreed. Leaders of the (Episcopalian) Church of Ireland —including Archbishop Walton Empey of Dublin and the Bishops of Meath and Kildare, Cashel and Ossory, Down and Dromore, and Limerick and Killaloe—all called for a ‘No’ vote. Bishop John Neill of Cashel and Ossory said criminalizing those who took the abortion option was “cruel and naïve.” Bishop Michael Mayes of Limerick and Killaloe said the lack of definition in the proposed legislation had resulted in legal and moral confusion. Bishop Harold Miller of Down and Dromore said abortion should be permitted in situations where the continuance of the pregnancy represented a substantial medical risk to the life of the mother, “even if in a few exceptional cases this requires direct, rather than indirect, abortion.”

Angry scenes in the Irish parliament reflected the divisions throughout the country. The Dáil (parliament) had to be suspended after members of the house traded insults and abuse. Dick Roche, a member of the ruling Fianna Fáil coalition, was rebuked for calling a Labor Party member “pro-abortion.” Opposition parliamentarians accused Roche of being “just a thug” and a “slithering political lizard.”

The Taoiseach (prime minister) Bertie Ahern said he did not want to see a “pro-choice, liberal abortion regime” in Ireland, but the main opposition parties, Fine Gael and Labor, both rejected the amendment and promised to legislate for limited abortion if they were returned to power in a general election later this year. However, the unanimity of the opposition was somewhat lessened when a former Fine Gael Taoiseach, John Bruton, came out in favor of a ‘Yes’ vote.

A last push falls short
The Catholic bishops redoubled their efforts to persuade Catholics to vote ‘Yes.’ One million copies of a leaflet entitled “An opportunity not to be lost” were distributed to Catholic parishes and a pastoral letter—personalized by each bishop—was read at all Masses the weekend before the vote.

Cardinal Connell, in his pastoral, said he realized that many people were very confused and finding it difficult to decide which way to vote. He reiterated that the unanimous statement from the 35 Irish bishops was issued after full discussion among themselves and with the benefit of expert legal, medical, and theological advice. “I can also assure you that the statement has been fully endorsed by the Church authorities in Rome,” he added.

The cardinal continued:

The Catholic bishops of Ireland are encouraging you to vote ‘Yes’ next Wednesday, while respecting your right in conscience to vote against this proposal. We do not presume to tell you how to vote, but in our honest opinion, taking all the complex issues into account, we genuinely believe that it is best to vote ‘Yes.’

As your bishop, I feel that you may wish to know how I myself shall be voting. I shall support the referendum proposal by voting ‘Yes.’ It is my belief that rejection of this referendum would give to the law in this country a fatal bias in favor of abortion.

In the Irish Times the week before the vote, Cardinal Connell renewed his argument in favor of the proposal, giving some direct answers to the pro-life opposition:

It is a cause of sadness for me that some people who share my concern for the value of unborn life and my abhorrence of abortion are urging a rejection of this proposal on the basis of their opinion that it does not provide adequate protection for the unborn.

They point out, correctly, that the definition of the crime of abortion applies to the intentional destruction of unborn human life after implantation. I do not, however, accept their contention that such a definition leaves the unborn without protection prior to implantation.

It seems to me, after consideration of legal advice, that the right to life of all the unborn is still guaranteed by Article 40.3.3 and that the guarantee is not limited to the particular additional protection offered to the unborn in the womb by this amendment. Support for this amendment is not inconsistent with a belief that unborn life should be valued from the moment of conception. “I would invite all those who would describe themselves as pro-life and who are considering voting ‘No’ to reflect carefully on the consequences of a rejection of the government’s proposal.

But, despite the cardinal’s plea, the pro-life ‘No’ vote held up, ensuring the defeat of the measure.

An uncertain future
Other factors also contributed to the outcome of the referendum. Appalling weather in the traditionally conservative west of Ireland was blamed as only 37 percent of the electorate there bothered to vote. Overall, the turnout was a low 43 percent of voters.

The lowest turnout nationwide, at 34 percent of the electorate, came in the rural heartland of Donegal northeast, but that constituency also recorded the heaviest ‘Yes’ majority, with supporters of the referendum proposal outnumbering opponents by a remarkable 41 percent. At the other end of the scale, the affluent voters of Dun Laoghaire, on the outskirts of Dublin, had the highest turnout, at 53 percent, and returned the largest ‘No’ majority, by a margin of 36 percent.

Overall, the results showed a clear urban-rural divide, with all the major cities voting ‘No’ while country areas mostly voted ‘Yes’.

Following the result, supporters of legal abortion said they would immediately press the government to introduce legislation allowing abortion in the case of threatened suicide, rape, and incest.
A spokesman for the Alliance for A ‘No’ Vote said:

We would like to see legislation laying down the criteria by which a ‘real and substantial risk’ to women’s lives would be judged. Doctors already can and do perform terminations under the X Case judgment where there is a physical risk to the woman’s life, but we would like legislation making it clear that they have an obligation to terminate where there is a risk of suicide and where the medical indications and woman’s own wishes dictate.

Professor Patricia Casey, a psychiatrist and former member of the Medical Council, predicted that the referendum result would lead to swift liberalization of abortion law in Ireland. She explained:

There will be a softening-up process and someone will suggest that we get rid of Article 40.3.3 of the Constitution. Within the next few months, I think the Medical Council will change its ethical guidelines to allow abortion in the case of suicide risk. In a few years, I predict that we shall be going the same way as Britain, where abortion is freely available up to 24 weeks, or up to birth in cases of fetal abnormality.

The bishops’ defense
In a statement released six days after the referendum, the Catholic bishops said they were “disappointed” at the result, and regretted the low turnout of voters. “It is clearly unsatisfactory that such a fundamental issue should be decided by a small percentage of the electorate,” they said.

The bishops “vigorously refuted” claims that they had somehow compromised Church teaching on the sacredness of human life in the interests of political expediency. They insisted:

Our statement clearly indicated that the proposed amendment would strengthen legal protection for the unborn only after implantation in the womb. However, we were satisfied that the proposal did not in itself deny or devalue the worth and dignity of the human embryo prior to implantation. Our position, therefore, is absolutely consistent with the universal teaching of the Catholic Church, and we confirm that our statement of December 12 was fully endorsed by the Church authorities in Rome.

The bishops also rejected media reports that their unanimous position on the amendment was linked to the financial contribution which religious congregations had agreed to make to the Irish government’s compensation scheme for victims of child abuse. “We wish to place it clearly on record that this suggestion is absolutely untrue and has no basis in fact,” they insisted.

In the wake of the result, the Irish Times newspaper reported: “There is no doubt that, for the Catholic bishops as well as the Taoiseach, this result is something of another slap in the face. They campaigned similarly against divorce in 1995 and lost then too. And last year they called for a ‘Yes’ vote in the Nice referendum.”

The Irish Times continued: “Although the weather was a factor in the low turnout along the western seaboard, we are not far removed from a time when even the elements would not have deterred the faithful from doing the bishops’ bidding. Clearly those days are gone.”

Irish Times columnist Fintan O’Toole put it more crudely: “Hard-line conservatism has been vanquished as never before and the kulturkampf of the right has lost its ability to rouse the mass of the electorate on abortion,” he crowed. “For the first time on a moral issue, the combined forces of Fianna Fáil and the Catholic Church have been beaten.”

Kieron Wood is a barrister and assistant editor of the Sunday Business Post in Dublin.