Cathal Barry
The Pro Life Campaign (PLC) has said any suggestion that negotiations for a new government would be held up by discussions on abortion “is astonishing given the lack of support for a referendum that emerged in the recent election”.
Sinead Slattery of the PLC said “the feedback from the recent election was that the abortion issue was being raised on the doorsteps by pro-life supporters, not by those seeking the dismantling of the Eighth (Life Equality) Amendment”.
Risk
Her comments come after it was reported that acting Taoiseach Enda Kenny was risking support from some of the 15 Independent TDs whose backing he is trying to gain, by moving to address the abortion issue.
It has been reported that Mr Kenny included proposals for a citizens’ assembly on the Eighth Amendment in a document supplied to the Independents – most of whom were unaware that the idea was even on the table during their 50 hours of talks.
Convention
“After Fine Gael introduced abortion in 2013, pro-life supporters will have no confidence in the idea of a citizens’ convention,” Ms Slattery said.
“It is high time that the acting Taoiseach Enda Kenny took this idea off the negotiating table so that the question of a referendum is no longer allowed to further delay the vital process of setting up a new government,” she added.