Republican News · Thursday 14 March 2002

Referendum result - A good day for women

Sinn Féin spokesperson on the abortion referendum Mary Lou McDonald described last week's defeat of the 25th amendment to the Constitution as good day for women and a good day for understanding.

"Today's result is a recognition that this is not a black and white issue but a difficult and complex decision which women with crisis pregnancies face," she said. "The government offered a fudge that satisfied no one. They told us that women are not to be trusted. The electorate rejected this view and instead voted for compassion and understanding.

"It is time now for legislation to finally put into law the rights of women as decided by the Supreme Court in 1992. The government must also address the need for comprehensive sex education, financial support for single parents, full access to childcare and comprehensive support services."

Commenting on the result, Caoimhghín Óoacute; Caoláin TD said more must now be done to assist women with crisis pregnancies.

"During the referendum campaign little attention was paid to the need for measures to reduce the number of crisis pregnancies and to assist women who have crisis pregnancies," said the Sinn Féin TD. "People on all sides of the referendum argument expressed agreement that this needs to be done. We should all now build on this common ground and implement measures to assist women who face very difficult situations, often alone. One of the key objectives must be to significantly reduce the tragic exodus of Irish women seeking abortions in Britain.

"The result of the referendum poll vindicates the argument that the Constitution is not the place to deal with the complexities of abortion. Several issues were in question in the proposed amendment, issues which could not be addressed with a single Yes or No answer.

"The electorate has placed the responsibility upon their Oireachtas representatives to deal with the abortion issue by means of legislation. This should be done in a very carefully considered manner and with maximum cross-party consensus."

Sinn Féin President Gerry Adams MP described the defeat of the Amendment as a victory for compassion and common sense. He also said that the government should now move to bring forward legislation in line with the X case and also ensure that the remit of the Crisis Pregnancy Agency is re-examined and that sufficient resources are provided to assist women with crisis pregnancies.

"The government also have questions to answer with regard to the conduct of this referendum," he said, "the fact that it was rushed through and that inadequate information was provided. The result is that many people felt unable to cast their vote because they were unsure what way to vote. It is also unacceptable that the vote was held midweek, leaving many young people unable to vote in what was an important referendum."