Sign in. It’s quick, free and it’s up to you.
An account is an optional way to support the work we do. Find out more.
MICHELLE MULHERIN HAS not yet decided if she will vote against the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013 come the final vote on Wednesday.
The Fine Gael TD has expressed her dissatisfaction with the proposed legislation but has not gone as far as saying she will face expulsion from the party over it.
Speaking on Morning Ireland today, the Mayo deputy said she will “weigh up on balance what to do” once the amendments she has tabled are accepted or rejected.
Although she accepts the inclusion of suicide grounds as means to obtain a lawful termination, Mulherin wants further assurances about the restrictive nature of the bill.
“I would consider my position once the Minister gave appropriate consideration to my concerns and to my efforts to make this particular piece of legislation more restrictive,” she said, describing the government’s current amendments as “window dressing”.
She also reiterated her request for a “pause period” of between one week and 10 days from the time a pregnant woman makes the request and the medical assessment is conducted by obstetricians and psychiatrists. That suggestion was dismissed by the Health Committee last week.
Others who have indicated their opposition to the Bill, but have not said outright that they will vote against it, include Junior Minister Lucinda Creighton, John Paul Phelan, James Bannon and John O’Mahony.
In the first Dáil vote, 24 TDs voted against the legislation with four Fine Gael members losing the party whip.
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
I don’t understand why these anti choice loons aren’t arrested for harassment and/or trespassing? If it was any other group of people they would be reprimanded but because its”pro life”they get away with it?! Why are they being tolerated and getting preferential treatment?!
I fully agree Amanda, it’s not fair to drive a person from their home. Arrests should be made.
Anti-abortion zealots.
Interesting that An Garda Siochana apparently told him that they were unable to guarantee his security. That has yet to be verified but, if it is true,
Then it is shocking.
Of course, you could not risk an escalation by arresting an anti abortion activist. That would cause mayhem.
As we curtail all of the social, practical and economic supports for pregnant women, we concern ourselves with legislation.
What those pro life nuts did is terrorism. Ireland does not negotiate with terrorists.
#7 My water pressure is already ridiculously low. Does that mean I won’t have to pay?!
same here mary, not only is our water pressure low the water is full of limescale, have to de-scale our kettle every week (using lemon juice overnight , it’s much safer than chemical descalers and you only need rinse out the kettle once next morning.) ourshower head has to be done eery couple of weeks and we gave up on electric kettles ,they only lasted a month before the limescale rotted them, out emersionelement is replaced every 12 months too otherwise it blows all the fuses. we used to getgreatpressure here untill about3 yrs ago when the council replacedthe water meteres since then its been inconsistent to say the least, only hopewhen they replace the meteres this time they do the job properly for a change.
meanwhile the youth defence website has been hacked :)
Anti-choice terrorist filthbags up to their old tricks again. Check out what they’re saying now! http://www.youthdefence.ie/index.html
They have to be mentally unstable.
It does not make sense to me why these pro life people are protesting. Isn’t the sole purpose of this legislation to clarify the x case ruling in the courts 20+ years. And the TDs that want to get the suicide clause removed! That’s the whole point of the legislation! Removing that would totally defeat the purpose of passing it at all!
Derek Keating one of the local pillars of the Catholic Church in Lucan, considering he is a Eucharistic Minister there I’m surprised the pro-aborts are so defenisive of him & concerned for his wellbeing.
We’re concerned for his well-being because he’s a living human being, and not a cluster of cells that are a potential threat to a woman’s life.
What he does in his spare time is his own business.
What’s not surprising is that you and your youth defense ilk don’t really seem to care about actual living people.
Yeah, your Facebook page isn’t too private.
What irony, a practising Catholic being harrassed and threatened by anti-abortion people. This legislation is for the whole of Ireland. TD’s have a duty to legislate according to the will of the people. Micheal Martin in allowing a free vote allowed TD’s in his party to evade their parliamentary duty.
#3 the domestic violence link is not working
Hmm, it seems to be working ok at this end. I’ll push a few buttons and see if something needs to be fixed.
have your say