Fianna Fáil MEP Billy Kelleher confirmed this week that he would vote to remove the three-day waiting period before an abortion if he were still a member of the Dáil. In doing so, he also acknowledged that the reflection period was only “introduced to bring more people on to the side of supporting a referendum to remove the Eighth Amendment.”
This is no ordinary admission. As Fianna Fáil’s health spokesperson at the time, Kelleher played a key role in devising the strategy that led to the 2018 abortion referendum.
While it’s not exactly news that the government brought forward the three-day waiting period to win over wavering voters prior to the Repeal referendum, it certainly is news to hear one of the strategy’s principal architects openly acknowledging the full thinking behind the ploy, including saying that at the time “there was always a view that the three days was something to look at and discuss again, because it was put in to maybe get people to look at the 12 weeks as a reasonable proposal.”
If you needed convincing of the level of contempt some politicians have for voters, this is it.
In the same interview, Kelleher said that “we have come a long way in a short time on this issue, thankfully.”
65,000 abortions later, it is extraordinary that he can make such a claim. Politicians like Kelleher never seem to pause for a second to reflect on the horror they helped create. Instead, they retreat behind platitudes that reinforce their worldview, invoking words such as “choice”, “tolerance” and “compassion” as substitutes for confronting the reality of what is actually taking place.
Even if the three-day waiting period was introduced for cynical political reasons, you might have expected Kelleher and others to recognise its value by now, given the lives it has unquestionably saved. Instead, they want it removed.
Kelleher and Taoiseach Micheál Martin have, to put it mildly, not been politically close for quite some time. That was particularly evident ahead of the recent presidential election, when Kelleher was eager to secure Fianna Fáil’s nomination.
Yet Martin was happy to have Kelleher as health spokesperson in opposition, knowing that on abortion he could be relied upon to back the leadership’s position, despite the pro-life views of much of the rest of the parliamentary party.
The good news right now is that the overwhelming majority of Fianna Fáil TDs and Senators are not following Martin and Kelleher’s lead on the proposal to abolish the three-day waiting period.
Kelleher is just another example of why politicians from what used to be the big Parties cannot be trusted. Martin knew he had a safe pair of hands on abortion when he had Kelleher as spokesperson on health. Kelleher’s ambitions are well known but he’s a man who cannot be trusted.
It’s appalling that we have SO many politicians that we cannot trust. First we had Leo Varadkar who is on record as saying “I am a medical doctor and can honestly say that “abortion is not good for either mother or baby “ He also said” I consider myself to be ProLife. I accept that the unborn is a Human Life with RIGHTS. I do NOT support abortion on request or demand. But he was overruled by the Dáil😢
Then we had Micheál Martin, Simon Harris and Simon Coveny who did complete U-TURNS from being Pro Life to being Pro Abortion 😡😱
Absolutely NOT to be TRUSTED
We need a survey to establish a list of people who support the Natural Order and Prolife in readiness for the next General Election.
Hi All,
What a disgusting politician Billy Kelleher is. As far as I’m aware and I may be incorrect, Kelleher doesn’t have any children himself and therefore may not understand the plight of a pregnant woman making a serious decision. Put plain and simple he is advocating the killing of unborn babies as a health spokesperson for FF. Would he not understand that a pregnant woman may have second thoughts about l aborting her child. It’s so sad that we have a so-called politicians like Kelleher at the forefront of Irish politics.
Please keep up your excellent work.
Regards,
Hi All,
What a disgusting politician Billy Kelleher is. As far as I’m aware and I may be incorrect, Kelleher doesn’t have any children himself and therefore may not understand the plight of a pregnant woman making a serious decision. Put plain and simple he is advocating the killing of unborn babies as a health spokesperson for FF. Would he not understand that a pregnant woman may have second thoughts about l aborting her child. It’s so sad that we have a so-called politicians like Kelleher at the forefront of Irish politics.
Please keep up your excellent work.
Regards,
I would say there are some decent politicians in FF and FG who wouldn’t be pro abortion in any way at all. We don’t have to think hard who are the pro abortion ones! Shame on them, including Kelleher, Martin, Harris, Coveney, etc, etc. When you hear them using words like compassion, healthcare you just know they are trying to hide their true reasons and looking for votes when elections are on the horizon.
Why dont the “dissenters” form their own party.