Micheál Martin of FF voices his concerns with abortion legislation based on suicidality

In an interview with TheJournal.ie yesterday, the leader of Fianna Fáil, Micheál Martin, said that he and his party "have an issue with suicidal risk in abortion legislation" and that he opposes other ways of eroding the law on abortion.

Yesterday's comments highlight the fact that evidence supporting legislation for suicide doesn't stack up. They follow the strong support Martin gave for the pro-life position and said that legislation to allow abortion along the lines of the X case would effectively lead to abortion on demand. You can read Mr. Martin's previous comments from July here. 

Yesterday, Mr. Martin said that his party fears that X case legislation would "open the door" to abortion on demand. Mr. Martin also highlighted the important issue that Ireland needs more perinatal psychiatrists to care for mothers who are mentally ill. Currently there are only 3 perinatal psychiatrists in the country. 

Mr. Martin's comments are especially timely, given the evidence presented by consultant psychiatrists to the recent Oireachtas Health Committee hearings. At those hearings, all the psychiatrists agreed that abortion is not a treatment for suicidality. 

Martin said that he did not support allowing abortions in "hard cases" such as rape or a poor pre-natal diagnosis. He said that while rape is "particularly difficult", he did not support legalising abortion in cases where a baby is conceived in rape.

Martin also made the point that legalising abortion for babies who may not live long after birth raises the question "where you draw the line".  These abortions are increasingly being referred to as "terminations for medical reasons". Since the IFPA and other groups started campaigning for widening of abortion on these grounds, many parents have come forward to voice their concern that the lives of babies with disabilities could be deliberately targeted under such legislation. You can read the stories of families involved in a group called One Day More by clicking here. This week, we saw the death of Jennifer Morbelli and her unborn daughter during an abortion procedure, performed because the baby had been diagnosed with disabilities. Her story highlights how abortions "for medical reasons" can also be very dangerous to the mother's health, as well as robbing the parents of the chance to get to meet their baby. 

You can watch Micheál Martin's comments in his video interview with TheJournal.ie below.