Trying to Slam the Door

A bitter debate on a dubious abortion law

The debate was complicated and vitriolic, full of emotional arguments, thunderous Sunday sermons and Irish ironies. It split the medical and legal professions, divided the Republic of Ireland's political parties and prompted Prime Minister Garret FitzGerald to make a public apology for ever having started the fuss. But in a country of 3.1 million Roman Catholics, 96% of the population, the result was never in doubt: by a vote of 66% to 33%, the Irish electorate last week declared itself firmly in favor of a constitutional amendment that would ban abortions.

Irish law already prohibits abortion, except in rare cases when a mother's life is in danger, under penalty of life imprisonment for both mother and doctor. That, however, was never an issue. Unlike previous referendums in Spain (1982) and Italy (1981), which resulted in liberalization of tough abortion laws, this poll did not ask Irish voters to make such operations easier to obtain.

Instead, the question last week was whether the existing ban should be enshrined in the nation's constitution. The amendment, its supporters argued, was necessary to prevent future parliaments from changing the law. Said Bernadette Bonar, a mother of four and a founder of the Irish pro-life movement: "We are trying to close the [abortion] door before it can be opened."

In the opinion of many legal experts, last week's vote may bring precisely the opposite result because the amendment is vaguely worded. It reads in part: "The state acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect . . . vindicate and defend that right." As FitzGerald put it, "The most vulnerable word, legally speaking, is 'unborn.' "

The Prime Minister and other politicians believe that the Supreme Court might interpret unborn as meaning everything that precedes the stage in pregnancy when the fetus is capable of being born, roughly the 28th week of pregnancy, thus legally permitting at least some abortions where none were allowed before.

For the Prime Minister, who urged voters to reject the amendment, the issue is filled with irony. Three elections ago, FitzGerald let the genie out of the bottle when he told the pro-life group that an abortion amendment "was an integral part of our program." Two governments later, his Fein Gael Party drafted a proposed amendment, only to have it rejected by coalition dissidents in favor of an alternative advanced by the Fianna Fail opposition. All the while, the struggle between the pro-and antiabortion lobbies took on a strongly religious character. Groups of nuns distributed pro-life literature door to door, and village priests denounced the amendment's opponents in hellfire sermons that occasionally featured graphic descriptions of how abortions are performed. Those who campaigned against the measure were often harassed by phone calls.

The pro-lifers may have won the battle, but they now face what could be a long and difficult war. Many legislators expect that the ever thorny issue of contraceptives, which are now available only by prescription, will flare up again. At the same time, the abortion amendment has cast a shadow over relations between the two Irelands. The ballot undoubtedly convinced many in the Protestant North that a closer relationship with the Catholic South is neither desirable nor possible. Meanwhile, Irishwomen can continue to obtain perfectly legal abortions by traveling to England. This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.