The Tánaiste has expressed concern that those campaigning to retain the Eighth Amendment may try to frighten undecided voters into voting No if they have any doubts about the proposal.
Simon Coveney predicted that undecided voters, which he estimated as being about 30 per cent of the electorate,would decide the outcome of the May 25th referendum.
He said this cohort may be afraid to vote to change the State’s abortion regime because of the arguments made by members of the No campaign.
“I think there will be efforts as this campaign goes on to try and persuade or in some cases frighten people who are undecided and there will be a view expressed that if in doubt, vote No and if you don’t know what is coming in the future, then don’t change things,” he said.
Mr Coveney said this approach has to be challenged and the way to do that on the doorsteps was to ask people whether they believed it was acceptable to have people travelling to the UK for abortions or obtaining abortion pills on the internet and taking them without medical supervision.
“I think anyone looking at those facts would conclude that the status quo is not acceptable but the problem is that we can’t change that because the wording of the Constitution is a straitjacket that doesn’t allow us change it and that is why we are asking people to vote Yes on May 25th,” he said.
Mr Coveney was speaking at the launch of the Fine Gael campaign for a Yes vote in Cork at which he was joined by MEP Deirdre Clune, Senator Jerry Buttimer and Minister of State Jim Daly, who warned that some women would die from taking abortion pills without proper medical supervision.
Ann Lovett
Mr Daly said it was recently 50 years since Ann Lovett was born in Cobh Community Hospital in Co Cork. She had died in 1984 at 15 years of age giving birth to a stillborn baby boy in a grotto in Granard, Co Longford.
"When I talk about Anne Lovett dying alone in a grotto in Granard 34 years ago, that is unlikely to happen today, but it is very likely that another girl called Anne will die alone her bedroom bleeding - this time having taken an abortion pill and that's the reality that presents to us," he said.
Mr Coveney previously favoured the repeal of the Eighth Amendment but did not agree with an Oireachtas committee’s recommendation to provide unrestricted access to abortion up to 12 weeks.
However, he changed his position in March, saying he was supporting the 12 week proposal “if it is coupled with strict medical guidelines.”
Mr Coveney said while abortion was a deeply divisive issue for some based on a religious belief and for others who see it as a human rights issue, he believed voters wanted to be treated in a respectful way and not lectured they must vote Yes or else they are living in the Stone Age.
“They want facts and want to know how the system will work if they vote Yes to change - most importantly I believe that vast majority of the, as yet, undecided believe that the status quo is no longer ok and that change is needed to support and protect women in a more compassionate way,” he said.
“But they need reassurance that we will legislate and get the balance right in order to protect women and their health .... but also ensure that the magnitude of a decision to terminate a pregnancy and the responsibilities of the State in that regard, are clear in any new law.”
No campaigners have claimed that abortions will be allowed up to six months into a pregnancy under what is being proposed by the Government.
Mr Coveney said the heads of the legislation that would be enacted in the event of a repeal vote strictly prohibit later term abortions, private abortion clinics or abortions on the grounds of disability.
He said they would require strict medical guidelines built on the principle of informed consent for doctors and patients.
“When a woman presents to a medical professional, requesting an abortion, a pill will not be handed with no questions asked - instead the doctor and the woman will discuss why she is making the request and what his happening in her life,” he said.
“The term of the pregnancy will be established by secondary scan if necessary and the woman will be told in an impartial and supportive way of the alternatives to abortion and counselling and extra supports will be made available if necessary and time can be taken for her to make a decision.”
Mr Coveney urged anyone who sees a “No result as the loss of a once in a life opportunity” to get involved in the campaign for a Yes vote over the next month.
