Graham Murtagh
Staff Writer
I’ve often been struck watching the evening news by the voracity and conviction of those on both sides of the Gaza conflict. I’m saying nothing in these paragraphs about the correctness of either sides’ beliefs – this is not the forum to discuss those rights and wrongs, and frankly, the time is insufficient. Nor can I be said to be endorsing the means used or the methods deployed. Instead, I’m talking exclusively about the depth of their conviction. These people believe in a cause and are determined to show it, whatever the cost.
A similar thought struck me earlier in the year watching Greek public service employees strike over pay cuts and other austerity measures. Perhaps it’s the high unemployment rate, but turnout was in similar supply to passion and fervour. In France, it’s the stuff of national stereotyping to get out on the streets and wreck a few cars when something doesn’t entirely go your way. Again, for better or for worse, these people believe.
So it was with some trepidation that I heard about the march on Saturday to legislate for abortion in Ireland following the death of 31-year-old dentist, Savita Halappanavar. I think it boils down to belief again. Oh sure, our ancestors fought hard for freedom from foreign rule, but that only took eight hundred years. Our austerity protests lack the passion of our Greek opposite numbers’ – impassioned speeches are replaced by a Lone Ranger with a megaphone outside the GPO, and the numbers in attendance can usually be counted with clever use of ones fingers and toes. I tend to be quite like that myself, an exhibition of classic Irish apathy, although its not that I don’t care about the cause itself. I often do, at least notionally – but I usually curse those causing a traffic nightmare in the city centre to vent their particular frustration on the rest of us midway through a Saturday, and as a consequence, don’t take part.
- Protesters at the NEVER AGAIN march last Saturday. Photo: Peter Muhly/AFP
On Saturday last, thousands turned up to remember and to ensure we never forget. Chants of “We won’t wait – legislate” pierced the crisp November air, while homemade banners were united by one single phrase, “Never Again”. In Dublin, Cork, Galway and London, people displayed both their horror at what had happened and a determination to ensure it doesn’t again.
With an investigation ongoing into Savita’s death, it is inappropriate for me to make any kind of comment regarding the individual case here. It is utterly clear though that the time for reform of some kind has come. The Irish people, like their international counterparts, appear charged and ready to make their voices heard on this issue, as the tragedy of Savita’s death underscores the need for some kind of clarity in the legal order.
That clarity, long overdue, is important. Paul Byron, the former Master of the National Maternity Hospital at Holles Street, said in an interview with RTÉ’s Morning Ireland radio programme that the lack of clarity on the abortion issue hung like a Sword of Damocles above the heads of those doctors who sought to act to save a woman in desperate need of medical attention as a result of the continuation of her pregnancy. This is simply unacceptable – doctors should be free to do the job they signed up for, to save lives, and to be able to act freely and exercise professional judgment without fear of legal retribution or personal punishment.
There are practical concerns. Calls for legislation to implement the details of the decision in Attorney General v X are all fine and well, but if the legislation is only a mirror of the judgment itself then questions need to be asked about what exactly that will achieve. Greater precision is needed, but the world isn’t a video game, and life and the prospects of success aren’t measured or displayed in percentages. That in itself presents a difficulty of considerable proportions.
Restraint must be the order of the day here. Outrage at the death of Savita is understandable and warranted, but rushing into legislation on the tide of international outcry and hyperbole can only do more harm than good. A timely and measured response that maintains the protections afforded to unborn life while supporting women and delivering clarity about when our medical professionals can act (and how) should be what is being sought.
Abortion is, and has been for some time, a uniquely national issue for Ireland, something we, the People, feel exceptionally passionately about. Since we met with our economic Waterloo, there has been much talk about sovereignty and self-governance. While our economic path is not one we forge alone at present, the power afforded to the government and the legislature is still a power bequeathed to it through the Constitution by the People. Our directions, our input, our beliefs are still the seat of power in Ireland, not international commentators or the pressure of the mobilised campaigners .
This is a Constitutional issue. The People, with a capital P, are calling. The government must observe only the will of its People.
