The Oireachtas committee on health will hold hearings on the Government’s draft abortion legislation over three days later this month.
The committee chaired by Fine Gael TD Jerry Buttimer, which heard expert witnesses in January, will sit on May 17th, 20th and 21st to discuss the heads of the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill 2013, which was published late on Tuesday night.
Mr Buttimer and his colleagues on the committee met yesterday morning to discuss how to proceed and agreed to invite “key medical and legal experts” to address the committee.
He said the hearings would be “focused and concentrated” on the broad outline of the Bill, with contributions also being sought from interested members of the public.
“We’ll be asking people who wish to make a written submission to do so in a very concise way outlining in a two-page summary . . . what they want and then on a head-by-head basis after that,” Mr Buttimer said.
The committee is due to meet again next Tuesday to finalise the list of witnesses to attend the hearings.
Fianna Fáil did not adopt an agreed position on the Government’s draft abortion legislation yesterday despite strong signals from the party leadership that the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill should be supported.
A large group of Senators and TDs expressed concern about the inclusion of a suicide clause during a 4½-hour meeting of the parliamentary party. Some insisted they could not support the planned law in its current form, while others said the proposed legislation should be supported in its passage through the Oireachtas, where the Government has a large majority.
Fianna Fáil health spokesman Billy Kelleher said the party would meet again to consider its position once the Oireachtas committee hearings have concluded. “We remain committed to the two principles which have informed our approach to this issue since the start of this Dáil: ie, the need to ensure the safety of pregnant women in this country and a refusal to play party politics with such an important issue,” he said.
Separately, Independent TD Mattie McGrath strongly criticised the planned law in the Dáil chamber.
“No government has succeeded in preventing an abortion on demand situation from occurring once the principle of targeting innocent human life is accepted,” Mr McGrath said.
Responding, Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore said time would be provided for all views to be put forward. “That’s what the Dáil is for, that’s what the Oireachtas is for – to debate and discuss the detail of legislative proposals,” he said.
There was strong support for the draft legislation at a lengthy meeting of the Fine Gael parliamentary party on Wednesday night, although a small number of TDs and Senators expressed concerns at the long-term impact of the legislation.
Leading figures in Sinn Féin have indicated the party will support the legislation, while support is guaranteed from the Labour Party.
