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LAST UPDATE | 8 Dec 2021
HEALTH MINISTER STEPHEN Donnelly has said that “ease of access” for abortion services has not yet been achieved three years after new laws around pregnancy termination were enacted.
Donnelly was facing questions from TDs this morning ahead of next month’s deadline to initiate a review into abortion legislation.
He said this review has now formally begun as the Department of Health this morning commenced a public consultation, allowing members of the public and advocacy groups inform the review of the abortion laws.
Donnelly said he was not yet in a position to name an independent chair to lead the second phase of the review as this position required a public tender.
The terms of the review have also been criticised by campaigners and politicians after Donnelly said they would focus on how the current laws operate and not whether the policy itself.
The Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act came into force in January 2019 and gave effect to the Eighth Amendment referendum the previous May.
Under the law, a termination of pregnancy is available on an unrestricted basis up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. Terminations beyond the 12-week limit are only lawful in the case of a fatal foetal abnormality or a risk to the life or serious harm to the pregnant person.
The operation of the Act is required to be reviewed after three years.
The review is to be overseen by an independent chair but campaigners have expressed repeated concerns about the delay in announcing the chair.
The chair is likely to have significant scope in shaping the direction of the review, which the minister has promised will take a three-part approach that involves service users, service providers and a public consultation.
In his introductory remarks to the Oireachtas Health Committee, Donnelly did not say who was being appointed as the independent chair but outlined that they “will assess the extent to which the objectives of the Act have been achieved”.
“The chair will assess the extent to which the Act’s objectives have, and have not, been achieved and will make recommendations to address any barriers identified,” he said.
Asked by Sinn Féin’s Seán Crowe TD for a timeline on the appointment of the chair, Donnelly said that a tender process would select the chair “early in the new year”.
“Then what I would hope to see is that the report is submitted in the summer or autumn of next year,” he said.
Donnelly also said that “women’s experiences of termination of pregnancy services” would also be “a critical source of information for the review”, adding that this was “the most important part of the first phase”.
The Health Minister said he had hoped to appoint directly but that this was not possible due to the amount of public money involved.
“I was informed that a procurement processes was necessary for the work, which is unfortunate as we had identified a number of excellent candidates and I’d much rather be announcing a chair with you here today,” he said.
Principal Officer in the Department of Health Geraldine Luddy said there hasn’t been a final figure put on the cost but that “it could be up to €100,000″.
During the hearing, it was revealed a tender has been published to conduct research ”to inform the review” but that the position of the chair had not yet been advertised.
Speaking after the hearing, committee member Bríd Smith TD of People Before Profit said it was “farcical” that these details were not provided to members in advance.
Issues
Campaigners on both sides of the abortion debate have sought changes to the laws as they currently operate.
Pro-choice campaigners have cited a lack of access to abortion services, with one survey this year finding that just one in 10 GPs are offering abortion services. They have also criticised the legally-mandated three-day wait period between a consultation with a doctor and the abortion taking place.
Anti-abortion activists have highlighted what they say is a lack of information around the provision of abortion services. They have also pushed for legislative changes that would require doctors to administer pain relief to a foetus during abortions after 20 weeks.
Under the Programme for Government, the minister has already committed to legislating for exclusion zones to prevent protests outside abortion providers.
Under questioning from Fine Gael’s Bernard Durkan TD, Donnelly said that he “would not currently be satisfied with the provision of services geographically” and that he doesn’t believe “ease of access” has been achieved.
Despite this, Donnelly said there has been “a significant reduction” in people travelling to the UK to procure a termination and this was “one of the big questions” that had to be addressed before the 2018 referendum.
“Certainly the numbers of women involved and traveling versus the number of terminations provided here would suggest that that objective largely has been achieved,” he said.
However, there are still a number of women who are traveling and I think that for example, would be one of the things that would be covered in this review. Why are they traveling why do they feel the need to travel?
Addressing this question, Luddy said that information from clinics in the UK suggested that 375 women travelled there from Ireland for terminations in 2020.
“They were made up from different reasons but predominantly for women who had a diagnosis of a fetal anomaly that wasn’t fatal,” Luddy said.
And also for women who were over the 12 weeks, so in our own Act there is unrestricted access to terminations when you’re under 12 weeks but over that there has to be clinical reason.
Terms of reference
A number of deputies expressed frustration that the terms of reference for the review had not been provided to them ahead of today’s meeting. Donnelly apologised for this and the terms were subsequently provided to the committee.
Among the issues the review will examine are extent to which the Act’s objectives have not been achieved, with the review to make recommendations to address these barriers.
It will examine the extent of service provision in the community and service provision in hospital settings.
In his opening statement, Donnelly said that the review of the legislation will be focused on “the operation of the legislation, rather than on the policy underlying the Act”.
Sinn Féin TD David Cullinane asked the minister whether the underlying policies would therefore be examined “at any point”.
“We do need to be very clear here that this is not a review of the policy. The policy is agreed. It’s a review of the operation of the policy, if the operation of the policy uncovers issues that require recommendations on the policy that is within the scope, but we’re not reopening the question of Repeal,” Donnelly said.
Cullinane said he “understands the point” the minister was making but he described it as a “Yes Minister answer”.
Cullinane then specifically asked about the question of the three-day wait period for a termination and inquired whether this could be revisited if issues were identified during the review.
In response, Donnelly said:
The waiting periods for example, they’ve been raised with me by many people, some people think they should be gone, some people think they should be longer. The review is not about examining that as a policy question. That’s a decision that has been arrived at by the Oireachtas. However, the review is going to look at the operational implications of that waiting period.
Pushed further on this by Fine Gael TD Seán Kyne, Donnelly said:
“We can’t preempt what the report is coming back with and what is linked to operation difficulties. It is possible that the report comes back and says ‘the operationalisation of this three days is very difficult, we recommend it moves to two days or it moves to four days’. The chair can recommend whatever they want so long as it’s linked to the operation of the of the Act. And then obviously it’s for all of us in the Oireachtas to review that.”
Asked later about the 12-week limit on unrestricted abortions, Donnelly said it was “not in scope” to look at changing this limit but that the operation of how this works for healthcare professionals would be examined.
Reacting to today’s hearing, advocate group the Irish Family Planning Association said it was “deeply concerned” about the planned review.
“The delay appointing a chair and confusion about the review’s scope may jeopardise this opportunity to improve access to abortion care and reproductive autonomy for women and pregnant people,” the group said.
Committee member and SocDem co-leader Róisín Shortall TD said that the operation of the laws and the policy are “inextricably linked” and both should be on the table.
“There are ongoing problems relating to accessibility that need to be examined as part of this review. Clearly, the operation of the law needs to be reviewed – but the operation of the law is informed by the legislation. Therefore, the operation of the policy and the law are inextricably linked,” she said.
The minister should confirm his willingness to amend the law if there is a strong view, from service users and providers during the consultation process, that its operation is being hindered.
Following a review
After the report is completed next year it will then be presented to the Health Minister and then likely sent to the Health Committee.
Speaking before today’s hearing, committee member Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan told The Journal she had written to the minister to suggest that a legislative review similar to what was undertaken when the Gender Recognition Act was being reviewed could be repeated.
She said that, while the issues are different, during that review process the review panel “listened to the people who are really affected”.
Hourigan estimated that such a review could take six months and that any further consideration by the TDs would have to reach the “high bar” set by the Oireachtas Eighth Amendment Committee in 2017.
In statement after today’s meeting, spokesperson for Pro Life Campaign Eilís Mulroy said that the review process was “wholly one-dimensional”.
“The one-sided approach adopted by the Minister this morning would leave one to believe that the three year review will be a cold house for those who hold a pro-life viewpoint and who represent a sizable portion of the electorate. The minister cannot simply ignore the experiences and views of those with different perspectives on abortion,” she said.
Earlier this year, the Minister for Health said the initial stages of legislative review had been commenced and that he has held meetings with a group of civil society organisations brought together by the National Women’s Council of Ireland (NWCI).
Speaking to The Journal, the NWCI’s Alana Ryan said the minister met with representatives in the summer but they are yet to find out who will chair the review.
“The minister did promised back in June when NWCI representatives from our Abortion Working Group met with him to appoint an independent expert chair in reproductive health to provide oversight of this critical review process, but since that meeting we haven’t heard any more,” Ryan said.
“We don’t know whether an expert has been appointed, there’s been no public announcement. And it really is crucial that we do have a chair who’s an expert in reproductive health and equality-based healthcare in position for the review so we can be confident in the process.”
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Could you do a story about about Muslim men who target under aged girls in England?
@Ladude: sushhhhhh, you can’t talk about that. Apparently you are racist or a bigot now. Best just sweep it under the carpet.
@Ladude: and Ireland
@Ladude: yeah stop talking about white men using their power to sexually abuse people. Only concentrate on immigrants and people of different colour. Sheesh.
@Deborah Behan: People of different colour? Different colour from whom? What colours? What’s your favourite colour?
@Deborah Behan: so Ignore crimes people of colour make because they are coloured? White men, black men, yellow men all use their power to abuse, it’s not just white people abusing Deborah.
@Deborah Behan: you can’t say sheesh either as it sounds like your saying Sheesh kabab and I’m sure you’ve upsetting someone there also
@Ladude: you mean like these:
http://www.thejournal.ie/sex-exploitation-newcastle-3537954-Aug2017/
http://www.thejournal.ie/labour-mp-resigns-rape-3549710-Aug2017/?r_dir_d=1
There are also a good few more, but you don’t want to find them, because it ruins your argument and agenda. Anyway, I am sure you would now like to castigate Spacey and others.
@Ladude: Awww bless…you do know that you can contact them directly with your inquiry ..
@Paul Fahey: yeah Paul I knew about them, why did you not ask me a question instead of assuming. There are much more stories that just that, sadly, like the Catholic church in the 50′s abuse in Islam is falling on deaf ears!! I’m more concerned what’s in my country than be too concerned about what’s happening in Hollywood!
@theysayimagirl: cool
@Ladude: Catholic Church in the 1950′s? Was still happening in the 90′s.
@KingBen: it’s been covered all over the UK media , Daily Mail probably the most anti Muslim racist rag you will read covered it !
@Cultural Marxist: its called an example marxist. we ignore Islam dirty side why?
@John Judd: how are they racist?
@John Judd: Yet again for extremely slow learners. Islam is not a race.
@John Judd: only after the fact. Nothing for the last 20 years. And even now Labour MPs wanting the victims to ‘shut up’ so as not to upset the minority communities.
@Ladude: You think sexual abuse is not happening in Ireland? That it’s just hollywood?
Much easier to let your lizard brain rule you and only care about the other tribes crimes when you should care about all crimes. You’ve just been shown that those stories are being covered, and you still seem outraged about them but you don’t seem as outraged by this kind of stuff, gee I wonder why that is?
Incidentally, “stories” you see on stormfront or fake news sites and reality are not one in the same, maybe they’re not covering some of the others because they don’t exist? Like the refugee rape story turned out in Germany? or maybe like the ones above they are being covered but you’re so blinded by racism you don’t see it.
@Ryan Carroll: one question at a time ryan. What it’s it thar you want to know?
@Ryan Carroll: I don’t think you’re getting the point I’m making, I’m not saying this should not be reported about Hollywood! But when certain people on her are unable to handle the truth about Islam and what’s happening there, totally disregarding evidence. Unlike Kevin, and other Hollywood stars, a lot of Muslims have been found guilty of their actual crimes, in court!!
@Ladude: It’s been 12 hours and you have not told us what these news stories are, or explained what their religion has to do with them being pedos
@Ryan Carroll: sorry Ryan, I work 12 hour shifts you know.
@Ladude: You’ve posted a dozen times in the mean time, but still won’t get specific
You’re not even bronze as a troll
@Ryan Carroll: I posted a dozen times….and? And I’m not trolling actually. I had an argument with you before, you could not understand stand the difference between an accident and a terror attack.
@Ladude: and you wont explain what the hell you are talking about , what sexual assaults, it’s been 12 hour and you have yet to actually explain what you are talking about, what story is being ”ignored’
@David Carino: That’s so funny
@Ladude: About time that little item got some media exposure.
@Ryan Carroll: Ok, now that I have time. I am not a journalist , and I don’t get paid to be doing this sort of thing. and as you know , in most cases, got to do with children, both the child’s identity and the perpetrators identity are hidden!! http://www.examiner.co.uk/news/west-yorkshire-news/24-huddersfield-men-2-women-12787499 http://www.pmclauth.com/sentenced/Grooming-Gang-Statistics/Gangs-Jailed?widget=BASIC&start=101&limit=100 and nobody is saying , that just people that are Muslim alone just do this, why are people ignoring this is the point. By the way, most times, Muslims the law of sharia law, so lots unreported also!!
A decision made to give him the Spacey needs
@Alan McCartney: only 2 likes?come on lads its hilarious ffs.
@Alan McCartney: It was Keyser Söze he mad.
Accused of 30 year old assault, no evidence – already guilty.
When did we get to this position that all is needed is the accusation to be found guilty?
@B9xiRspG: he affectively admitted he did it. Now all the other stories about Spacey are coming out. It doesn’t appear to be a once of thing
@B9xiRspG: What was a 14 year old doing at a grown up party who was looking after him ?
@Kal Ipers: Well, he didn’t quite admit it, but thought out loud “Hmmmm, that DOES sound like something I would do if I was drunk…”
@B9xiRspG: so you don’t believe the victim? Why on earth would he make that up? And the flood gates are about to open.
@Gillian Weir Scully: Ah, the Hook defence!
@Deborah Behan: I believe in the law, I believe a person is innocent until proven guilty not the other way around
@Kal Ipers: he didn’t admit it, he stated he had no memory of it but gave an apology. But let’s not let facts get in the way
@Deborah Behan: why did the alleged victim not tell a police man? Now that would have been the correct thing to do.
@Deborah Behan: why would he make it up? Never said he did. I just believe a person needs to be found guilty before we burn them at the stake.
It’s not like we ever had false accusations before.
Maybe we should just wait for the proof first that’s all I’m saying
@Kal Ipers: Saying he doesn’t remember a drunken night 30 years ago is not the same as effectively admitting it. But punishing him his crime before it has been properly tried, is the rule of the mob, which you are comfortable enough with, it seems.
@Gillian Weir Scully:
Kevin Spacey apparently was not looking out for him . George Hook was in hot water a few weeks ago for suggesting that the victim shouldn’t have put herself in danger. You are suggesting that this 14 year old in some way put himself in danger by being at the party. It is true he should not have being there , the organizers and his parents were clearly neglectful. But that is no excuse for Kevin Spacey or anyone else to take advantage of a child.
@Deborah Behan: Hahahaha the man hater Behan. Still waiting for you to condemn Mary Coughlan and Dil Wickremasinghe for using rape as publicity for themselves?
@DaisyChainsaw: Another feminazi hypocrite!
@B9xiRspG: I said he “affectivelly” admitted it so thems are the facts. He has a very bad reputation and more is coming out. well known secret the same way George Michael being gay was.
@Kal Ipers: It’s Effectively
@Aine O Connor: not comparable to Hook as it looks likely there is a case against others in this case. But yes there is blame as to why a kid ended up there
@Kal Ipers: read his statement again, he didn’t remember it.
What bad rep? Just because he’s gay he must be bad?
@B9xiRspG: Child abuse is such a devastating crime that a “possibly guilty until found innocent” approach is needed. The need for this was exposed in the clerical and other abuse past that enabled further abuse while the legals argued.
@Gillian Weir Scully: ah yeah, blame the victim.
14 year olds don’t have constant parent supervision. What a dumb thing to say. Are you dumb?
@lavbeer: Perhaps it was fear at the time. He was only 14 back then. Not everyone has your undoubted courage.
@Gillian Weir Scully: careful now or you will be accused of blaming the victim, just like George Hook.
@B9xiRspG: he didn’t outright deny it, which is what you would do if you genuinely didn’t remember it happening. Then he attempts to divert the focus from the alleged assault by coming out as gay. It didn’t work. It made him look guilty. Why would anyone apologise for something they truly believed they didn’t do?
@B9xiRspG: Nothing to do with him being gay other than that influenced who he was inappropriate with. He has long had a reputation of getting drunk and hitting on people who rebuff him constantly. That is his bad reputation
@Johnny Bellew: then – who said anything about then? I mean now.
@lavbeer: Perhaps he was emboldened by others speaking out against sexual abuse?
@Tom Newnewman: what ?? possibly guilty until proven to be innocent is not good approach to truth or justice in any circumstances !! Such Nonsense
@lavbeer: ….and perhaps your brain is unable to comprehend that.
@Gillian Weir Scully: There was no actual party, he invited him TO a party then it seems there was none and he made the moves on him
Who “looks after” any 14 year old? They’re not toddlers no parent knows where they are 24/7
People don’t seem to get this, the reason people didn’t speak out for so long was because these people were so powerful and nobody would believe you, it’s coming out now because there is safety in numbers. If you breathed a word you’d be considered to be slandering a pillar of the community and your career would be over. Come on, use your logic, how many “pillars of the community”, pastors, preists, cops,journos have we seen end up being accused of this
Ask yourself which one is more likley, are all or most of these victims lying or is their a pattern here? where some people react a certain way sexually when they get into a position of power and decide to abuse it?
@Johnny Bellew: perhaps indeed ….
@Damien Wallanger: As I said if you knew you don’t grope 14 year olds would you say “i dont remember” or would you go f—-g ballistic and threaten to sue knowing you’d never do such a thing?
@DaisyChainsaw: and who would of thought ‘Hook Defence’ would have nothing to do with rugby!
Guilty until proven innocent by the sounds of it.
@Do the Bort man: great actor despite the allegations! Pity he’s tarnished his reputation
@Do the Bort man: If everyone else in America were to be held to the same standards as this Trump would have been removed from office months ago…
@Jeremiah A Craic: Pity his victim.
I think we can sleep at night knowing, Kevin won’t be golrooming our children , why is that we are not reporting, sexual crimes by certain religious group?
@Ladude: grooming
@Ladude: Great idea, let’s begin with the Catholic or Protestant churches systematic abuse and murder of children throughout the world? Given that they are the worst perpetrators.
@Ladude: golrooming sounds more sinister.
@nafoits: yes, why where men, who obviously don’t believe in God, get to abuse so many children? Also why some people have their head in the sand about abuse I’m Islam?
@Ladude: as above:
http://www.thejournal.ie/labour-mp-resigns-rape-3549710-Aug2017/?r_dir_d=1
http://www.thejournal.ie/sex-exploitation-newcastle-3537954-Aug2017/
Plenty of Journal articles, but you have to actually want to find them.
@Ladude: Like in the celebrity world only a small percentage of people from the religious world actually abuse people, the vast majority don’t.
@Paul Fahey: Paul I’m on here for 4 years. I know the journals agenda and what they will report endlessly on. Their are certain stories that are constantly pushed on here and other ignored. I never said their was no stories of this sort of thing, just not enough of them, they are few and far between!!!!
@Ladude: IS there organized abuse in the Islamic church the way there was in the catholic church? or are you talking about cases where people who abused people happened to be muslim? was it that they were muslim that made them abuse people?
It wasn’t that they were catholic that made them abuse people it was the organization covering it up. So tell us what you are talking about specifically instead of this vague innuendo? Which Islamic church is engaging in a cover up of systematic abuse and who is doing it? whats not being covered?
@nafoits:
I’m guessing you’ve never read the Koran or Hadiths and studied Islams archaic penal Sharia law? quite an eye opener regarding the treatment of non Muslims, slaves, children, women etc and just about every aspect of daily life. Did you know that since the creation of Islam(submit),over 260M Human beings have been killed throughout its history, not to mention the countless number taken into Islamic slavery.
@Remy: ….and? You will find that in any holy book, the bible is filled with genocide, gang rape, slavery and orders to kill this that and the other and , just like the Qu’ran, a contradictory chapter talking about peace and love a few pages down.
Sharia Law is not just about punishment it’s a whole way of living, All organized religion is dangerous for the exact same reason: it lets you pick and choose passages in a holy book to convince yourself the creator of the universe is on your side to back anything you wanna do
@Ryan Carroll:
Muhammad was no Jesus. Next time a Koranic sanctioned Jihadist commits mass murder in the name of Allah(Pagan moon God), I’ll try remember your words.
@Remy: Murder in the same of religion is nothing new, you can see the Americans do it, the Isrealis do it, and ISIS do it
What that has to do with sexual assault I don’t know
@Ryan Carroll:
There are no verses in the Koran about peace and love towards non Muslims… Cherry picking certain lines out of verses and stating it contradicts a following verse shows your ignorance…. https://lancastrian1.wordpress.com/2017/02/23/how-the-media-mislead-by-omission/amp/
@Ryan Carroll:
Because Muhammad the founder of Islam and the so called perfect Muslim, by all standards, was a Pedophile and a rapist, he used rape as a weapon of war against the Jews and the Pagans of Arabia.
@Remy: There are, theres an entire section about he who takes one life kills all of humanity, it’s you doing the cherry picking because you were caught out and can’t handle it
@Ryan Carroll: sorry, so you have the bible verse where it mentions gang rape? Never heard of this in the Bible and I have read it many times
Says a lot about the reasons for giving such an award in the first place if it can be revoked at will
@lavbeer: I’d say his mantlepiece is already full anyway.
@lavbeer: Spacey is one of the great multidimensional talents, so we’re going to focus intently on one dimension.
The key word here is ‘allegations ‘. Forget about due process. Lets do it the American way. Hang em high then give him a fair trial.
It looks like McCarthyism is back. This time the media is whipping it up. Trump is right about them.
@Harry Roberts: He already basically admitted it
It’s not McCarthyism it’s safety in numbers having it’s effect, everyone is suddenly realizing that they were not the only one this kind of thing happened to and speaking out hoping that the shame it causes for their abusers will mean it won’t happen to the next generation
If someone was strongly denying involvement I’d say ok we don’t know but most of them are putting their heads down and admitting it knowing more stories might be coming and their PR people tell them it’s best to admit it up front than try to deny then admit it later which looks worse
@Ryan Carroll: Even if he strongly denied it – the media will still tar him. Other accused denied and get tarred, and Spacey errs on a “I don’t remember but IF I did” and he still get tarred.
It’s Guilty til proven Innocent of all allegations now.
I’m not going to believe any allegations til it’s proven beyond reasonable doubt in a court of law.
People….don’t be f—-g idiots, really, you can’t be that stupid you just can’t be
If someone accused me of luring a 14 yo back to my place and trying to have it on with him I’d completely loose the plot, be practically foaming at the mouth, hiring lawyers and threatening to sue left right and centre screaming from the roof tops that it was untrue…not saying I don’t remember but maybe
If that’s not an admission then it’ happened its an admission it could have which is the same as saying yeh when i get drunk i wanna hook up with barely into puberty teen boys, come on ffsake think about how you’d react if someone accused you of a sexual crime you didn’t commit, you don’t say “maybe i did i was drunk”. I know no matter how hammered I am I don’t try it on with 14 year olds so if anyone ever accuses me it wont be a maybe answer if you can’t say the same then id have to wonder.
@Ryan Carroll: you seem to have it all figured out Ryan! Ever think of getting into the legal business?
@Damo:: If you can’t keep up with us that’s ok, just don’t say anything at all, if you post that kinda thing it just shows you got nothing.
@Ryan Carroll: Well that was a delightful opening paragraph.
First he gives an “if” apology ( basically a non apology ) for molesting a 14 year old. And decides NOW is exactly the right moment to come out. What a bag of sleeze slurry! He does the lgbt community no service by coming out.
@Ian Phillip Creaner: you do the LGBT community no service by suggesting that Spacey is representative of them.
@Ian Phillip Creaner: I agree , although to be fair he was damed either way , because if he responded to the accusations public but just said it was 30 years ago and he was drunk and he’s sorry , the trial by media storm and questioning of sexuality would be in full flight about him ANYWAY , then if he chose to come out / in say 3 months time , then that would just get linked and associated to this incident ( all over again ) and the mob would be saying ah I knew he was gay remember he assaulted that 14 year old lad but conveniently never mentioned he was gay blah blah …. Definitely a case of Damed if you do and damed if you don’t
@Living The Laws: you do yourself less service by being either a) unable to read, b) unable to understand simple English or c) unable to articulate your thoughts clearly. Which ever one it is, you have overshot your mark.
@Living The Laws: who said he knew he was 14? Once again, were you there? Do you know what really happened, what about other people at the party? This is a matter for the police and the courts.
@Ladude: if he was in a show acting with him then there is a high probability he knew. Definitely one for the police
@Damien Wallanger: If I accused you of trying to have sex with an underage boy would you say “i dont know I might have”
or “no!! ive never done that and if you print that I’ll sue your ass!”
The latter is the reaction of an innocent person.
@Ian Phillip Creaner: Wow that’s a ridiculous statement. He wasn’t accused of ‘molesting’ anyone. He tried it on with someone at a party, they said they weren’t interested, he accepted that and now he’s a child molester!!! He didn’t take anyone, sexually assault anyone or molest anyone. Facts really don’t matter to those on the bandwagon.
@Aoife Dooley: a 26 year old man lies on top of a fourteen year old girl with sexual intent. Having sexual intent, and being 26, it might be safe to presume an erection was involved. She then manages to squirm out from under him. hmmmm. Still feel the same about it? Did you just become a bit daft as u grew older or….?
In hindsight,I bet the Emmy’s wish they didn’t mention “crossing boundaries to touch humanity” in relation to Spacey.
@Erich Butler: yeah although it’s all sanctimonious BS anyway , “awards” for “actors” who cross boundaries to @Touch humanity “- pass me the sick bucket / look at me I got an Emmy for touching humanity let’s all have an overpriced dinner and congratulate each other while the planet descends into an even bigger rich and poor divide ….
@Minom Pnom:
go back to the Daily Mail comments section
Whatever happened to the “innocent until proven guilty” This is just an allegation and has not been proven. The alleged perpetrator has no memory of it. It was 30 years ago. Why did the alleged victim not speak out before?
@John Hagin Meade: Correction: The alleged perpetrator “says” he has no memory of it. The alleged victim was 14 years old so probably very scared. Not everyone is as brave as you, John.
@Johnny Bellew: Think about this.
If you were accused of sleazily and drunkenly luring a 14 year old boy to your place under false pretenses, picking him up in your arms, pinning him to your bed and making the moves on them, and you know you didn’t do it, would your response be:
(A) “i er…well…sorry if I er…did do that i was probably drunk and don’t remember er….”
(B) I did no such thing! f—K! i’ll sue this b****D he’s lying he can expect to hear from my lawyers!
@Ryan Carroll: either statement will produce the same outcome – tarred and feathered by the mob til proven innocent.
Forget the outcome, it’s the initial reaction that tells you if the person did it or not.
If I don’t remember last night because I blacked out (does not happen to me but if it did), and someone accused me of rape say, I would know I didn’t do it because I never would, so I’d naturally deny it even if I had no memory I’d be screaming I’d never do such a thing.
i don’t get it at all…
He’s accused him, in an interview….
hasn’t consulted or approached him….
has he reported it… spacey apologized first off but said i couldn’t remember, which in fairness is more than most would do……
if you’ve been molested in such a way, report it, or confront your molester when older….
30 year’s with a vague story, is bandwagon jumping…
taking away from the people in the Harvey weinstien cases…
Sounding like George hook, but, what was a 14 year old boy doing at a party with adults with drink and drugs? Where were his parents? I do not agree with what spacey did, especially deflecting by saying he is gay, but surely there is a parental responsibility here too?
@Blah blah: agreed, its parents responsibility….
very weird situation…
but if it’s true…..
lot of false claims out there….
More hypocrisy. Does anyone seriously believe that any member of the Emmy panel was not aware of the Spacey stories. Another open secret in Hollywood. To think these people try to tell us what to believe especially at events like the Emmys.
Hollywood looks as though it’s going through the Salem Witch trials…. Who needs evidence when the story is so good….
Assault? It was said this boy wasn’t touched except for stupid dirty talking…. and can you imagine why wait for over 30 years before telling the world media about his claim? Strange….
@Thosj Carroll:
Apparently he went to a lawyer and was told that he had no case, so what exactly is this all about?
@Thosj Carroll: It’s not at all strange if you understand the power dynamics at work. Because he was 14 and scared and because if you accuse a “pillar of the community” of something like that out of nowhere you’ll be accused of slandering a good man and never work in the sector again
He waited because now there is safety in numbers.
He was picked up and pinned to a bed, any unwanted physical contact is assault. Would you pick a 14 year old up, stick them on your bed and pin them down there no matter how hammered you were?
Now this does not seem right , I make no excuses for drunken behaviour and certainly for sexual assault , but he was 26 , at an adult party and he made a drunken pass at a guy , who was at an Adult Party , he didn’t force , blackmail or coerce ,he made a pass at him . Stuff like this will dilute any real sexual assault reports. Are we all to get offended if someone makes a pass , and if we say no thanks and they leave ,let’s not exaggerate it . Now I don’t know everything about this , but this is all that’s been reported .
There’s actually a scene in family Guy where a naked Stewie is running naked through a shopping mall saying he just escaped from Keven Spaceys basement .
If things keep going the way they are, there will shortly be nobody left in Hollywood to make anything apart from pornography and rap videos. I’m sure that the outrage at Wienstien and Spacey and the rest will be felt deeply by these sectors, and in future the porn and rap shows will be of the highest possible taste (non exploitative of course).
And Pope Francis blessed John Paul II, who was number one child abuse enabler in the world, with canonisation. What next the canonisation of Maciel who was John Paul’s favourite living saint? Who says the secular world has no morals?
It could be a bum Rapp
He used his homosexuality as a defence……..?
@michael k: Diversion tactics or “spin”….. as they say in the states, and I hear a lot of the big liberal news stations in America ran with the title “Kevin Spacey reveals he’s gay” and with no mention of the accusation so it kind of worked for him, initially.
have your say