Brendan O’Regan
Photo: iStock here is no lack of hot button issues. As soon as one is discussed and fades, another lands to take its place. It’s a queue of controversies.
Last week RTÉ seemed to be throwing its weight behind moves to progress surrogacy legislation. No fewer than three speakers in favour were interviewed last Wednesday morning, while there were no speakers against the practice to debate with them, despite it being controversial and either illegal or highly regulated in other countries. It followed a familiar pattern – a curated selection of hard cases, with not enough attention paid to serious and opposing ethical considerations. This was on the occasion of a pressure group, Irish Families Through Surrogacy, meeting with legislators that day. RTÉ facilitated them with several open doors.
On Morning Ireland (RTÉ Radio 1) Ailbhe Conneely, Social and Religious Affairs correspondent (interesting combination) spoke of a “rush” to get legislation through in 2024, despite unfinished business and supplementary legislation being needed. Questionable legislation is often rushed. She mentioned efforts to “transfer legal parentage” and I was glad she used the term “sever” to describe the situation, with the biological or birth mother deliberately and legally erased from the child’s life. Thankfully the presenter did raise the issue of “ethical questions”. Whose ethics? I wondered. Conneely pointed out the present regime was for non-commercial surrogacy. This wasn’t teased out enough and an opposing view was absent.
Later in that programme we heard from Mary Seery Kearney, former Senator and parent of a daughter born through surrogacy who called for immediate enactment of surrogacy laws. She criticised an “absolute absence of urgency” about enacting the legislation fully. The presenter suggested some might object that it is “not right to sever the legal link between a woman and the child she gave birth to”. Indeed. But she said they try to respect the rights of all and that the surrogate never intends to be the mother after birth. She said they explain to the children how they were “ethically conceived”! There should have been questions raised about the dangers of coercion, and of the exploitation of vulnerable women in poorer countries. The ‘wombs for hire’ scenario is obviously something people would react against if the issue was properly discussed. In other debates, the idea of woman as incubator is strongly frowned upon.
In case we weren’t getting the message, there was yet another personal surrogacy story, with Liam Aherne. He referred to legal difficulties with “myself, my husband and two twin boys”, his issue being that the biological father is the only one in the couple with legal status in relation to the children.
A short time later’, on Today with Davis McCullagh (RTÉ Radio 1) the issue was raised yet again, and again, only one speaker, in favour of surrogacy, was interviewed. This was Amy White from that pressure group mentioned above. She was looking for “immediate legal action”. She wanted to be able to “correct the parentage of our children”. In the case of one of her children, the child was carried by her sister, in the other it was a surrogate in Georgia. Problems as regards guardianship arose. Apart from acknowledging that there were legal and practical difficulties the interview felt facilitatory – near the end McCullagh asked her what she wanted the legislators to take from that day’s meeting.
Peace is certainly one of the hot button issues of the moment. Sky News (Thursday) had Ruth Redhill Assistant Editor of The Tablet discussing Pope Leo’s meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in the Vatican. She spoke of an “exchange of views”, which can sometimes be a euphemism for tough discussions. I’d like to have been a fly on the wall, considering recent tensions between the Vatican and the American administration over the wars in the Middle East. She spoke of how peace was a passion with Pope Leo and how the way he stood up to President Trump was making him more popular, though I doubt popularity is his concern.
Pope Leo has also been in the news because last weekend marked the first anniversary of his pontificate. The occasion was celebrated on EWTN News in Depth (Friday), including interviews with his brother, fellow Augustinians, and everyday Catholics. He was described as “The Pope of Peace” in this comprehensive review – well worth looking back on via the EWTN website, the EWTN+ App, or on YouTube.
Pick of the week
Film: Heaven knows, Mr Allison
Film 4, Saturday, May 16, 2.55pm and Wednesday, May 20, 4.40pm
(1957) Deborah Kerr stars in for director John Huston’s Second World War drama, as a nun stranded on a Japanese-held Pacific island with just a laconic Marine corporal (Robert Mitchum) as her only companion.
Forgotten Heritage
EWTN, Saturday (night), May 16, 2am and Friday, May 22, 5pm
Frs Hogan and Gorman share the life of the Irish saint Columbanus and relate how it was Irish monks who actually saved civilisation.
Falling
Channel 4, Tuesday, May 19, 9pm
Nun Anna (Keeley Hawes) has an unexpected run-in with intriguing priest Fr David, which threatens to disrupt the peaceful life she’s led for the past 20 years. Six-part series.