Eilis Mulroy
Then-Health Minister Simon Harris speaks January 29, 2018 after the announcement that the government was to hold a referendum on liberalising abortion laws at the end of May of that year. Photo: CNS/Clodagh Kilcoyne, Reuters Soon after being elected a TD for the first time, Simon Harris wrote the following in the Sunday Independent: “Voltaire once commented that ‘the most important thing in life is to speak your mind’. That’s exactly what I did last week. At a private meeting amongst colleagues, I raised concerns about legislating for abortion in Ireland, adding that should such a scenario arise, I would have grave difficulty supporting it”.
Referring in the same article to media criticism of his pro-life stance at the time, he continued: “Why can’t we just have a respectful discussion? Why can’t we recognise as a society that people have strongly held views on this issue and that those views will influence their perspective on whether or not Ireland should legislate for abortion? Why can’t we make the assumption that people who hold views on this issue which oppose our views may be honest, caring human beings, not bigoted caricatures?”
Six short months after penning these words, Harris did a one hundred and eighty degree turn on abortion. The same day that his party leader Enda Kenny announced he was introducing legislation for the X Case, Harris did his about-face and never looked back.
Principles
Gone was the promise he made in the media to stand by his principles and not cave to the “herd mentality”.
Gone was the written commitment the then Councillor Harris gave to the Pro Life Campaign before getting elected in 2011. In answer to a survey put to all election candidates, Simon Harris did not try to obfuscate or leave himself any wiggle room in his answers. Instead he made two direct promises. “Yes, if elected to the Dáil I will oppose any legislation to introduce abortion in Ireland” and “Yes, I will support legislation that protects the human embryo from deliberate destruction and I will oppose any legislation which does not.”
A reply as strong as that would give anyone hope for the next generation of politicians! But just two years later, Mr Harris was passing through the Dáil voting division to proudly vote in favour of the 2013 abortion bill which provided for legal abortion in Ireland for the first time.
Those who had close dealings with Harris on the abortion issue before his sudden change in stance were aghast at the speed and ease with which he turned”
The person set to become Taoiseach on April 9 didn’t waste any time agonising over his vote for abortion. Instead, Simon Harris embraced the idea fully and became one of the most visible and ardent backers of abortion in politics.
The man who pleaded in a newspaper column some months earlier for a respectful debate and who railed against unfair caricatures of pro-lifers, suddenly became the foremost exponent in politics of depicting pro-life people in the most negative light possible.
Those who had close dealings with Harris on the abortion issue before his sudden change in stance were aghast at the speed and ease with which he turned.
Shamelessly
As Minister for Health and leading proponent in government for repeal of the Eighth Amendment, he shamelessly attacked the motivations of pro-life campaigners on an almost daily basis, making ludicrous comparisons between defending the right to life of unborn babies and the awful history of the Magdalen laundries and Mother and Baby Homes.
Harris could clearly be heard mumbling words like “disgusting” under his breath in indignation at what was being said”
To atone for everything that happened in the past, Harris’ proposed solution was to delete all constitutional protection for the unborn child and introduce legislation for abortion on demand. In one Seanad exchange before the new abortion law took effect, Senator Rónán Mullen challenged him over the fact that his new law would permit late-term abortions, where babies that survived the abortion procedure would be left to die without receiving any medical assistance, as routinely happens in countries where abortion is legal.
Truth
As the Senator delivered his remarks, Harris could clearly be heard mumbling words like “disgusting” under his breath in indignation at what was being said. The sad truth is that the dreadful things described that day have already come to pass under the law Harris brought forward, as evidenced by findings published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology by a team of UCC researchers.
When taking issue with Harris for saying that repeal of the Eighth Amendment ushered in a “brighter Ireland”, the late Taoiseach John Bruton told the annual pro-life dinner in Dublin (a few months after the abortion referendum passed) that “it will not be a bright Ireland for the little babies who will have their lives ended before being allowed to see the light of a single Irish day”.
His conduct on abortion and the nonchalant way he changed his stance on such a defining issue is a good guide for what we can expect from him as our new Taoiseach”
The former Taoiseach also criticised Harris for referring to the referendum result as “consigning a misogynistic legacy to the history books”. Mr Bruton said the Minister’s remarks were “rather judgemental and not particularly tolerant of those who sincerely disagreed with him on the issue of abortion”.
Harris is unquestionably a very skilled communicator and a lot of people hold him in high regard for that. But he should be judged by his actions, not his words. During the abortion debate, he certainly didn’t practice the “civility” that he preached about so fervently last Sunday in Athlone after he was elected leader of Fine Gael.
His conduct on abortion and the nonchalant way he changed his stance on such a defining issue is a good guide for what we can expect from him as our new Taoiseach.
It is important to factor in as well that a lot has changed politically since the 2018 referendum. Voters, for a host of reasons (some easy to identify, some not so easy) are more engaged in politics and what politicians are up to.
The ‘family’ and ‘care’ referendum results from March 8 clearly show this to be the case. As a pro-life movement, we have to hold the new Taoiseach to account for the appalling law he introduced that has resulted in Ireland’s skyrocketing abortion rate.
It would be nice to think as well that when he becomes Taoiseach he reflects on the wise and heartfelt words of his predecessor, John Bruton, and the far-sighted interventions he made on the abortion issue. We can only hope and pray that he does.
Eilís Mulroy is Chief Officer and spokesperson for the Pro-Life Campaign.