The Pro Life Campaign has welcomed the cross-party support for the Foetal Pain Relief Bill that was voted on in the Dáil on Wednesday. 37 TDs voted against the Government’s amendment and in favour of the humanitarian proposals of the Bill, that would ensure pain relief is administered to unborn babies before late term abortions.
The list of TDs who opposed the Government’s blocking amendment includes: 15 Fianna Fáil TDs, 4 Fine Gael TDs, 17 Independent TDs and 1 Aontú TD.
Commenting on Wednesday’s vote, Eilís Mulroy of the Pro Life Campaign said:
“While we were very disappointed with the Government’s attempt to block the pain relief bill, we are very pleased that so many TDs chose to back this humanitarian bill. The momentum is clearly in favour of introducing a change to the law that would ensure that no baby dies from a late-term abortion enduring suffering or distress that could be avoided. I think TDs are starting to pay attention to the emerging scientific research showing that unborn babies feel pain from 20 weeks and possibly much earlier.
“It is vital that the Government doesn’t continue to sidestep this issue and accepts the need for changes to be made to the law to ensure that pain relief is given to unborn babies in these situations. Much attention was rightly drawn yesterday to the fact that a law was introduced in 2013 ensuring that animals are given pain relief before any procedures are carried out on them that could involve pain or distress. It is an outrage that animals now have more rights than unborn babies under Irish law. It is time for some compassion to be introduced into the law, and at a minimum that unborn babies would be given pain relief to alleviate any suffering or distress during late term abortions.”
