Pringle: Abortion must be recognised as health care
- Updated: 14th July 2023
Independent TD for Donegal, Thomas Pringle, said abortion is health care and the denial of it as a service is a breach of human rights, in arguing for safe access zones.
Addressing the Dáil on Thursday, Deputy Pringle said: “On one hand we have people who wish to exercise their freedom to protest. Within that, freedom of assembly, freedom of association and freedom of expression. On the other hand, we have a legal health care service, the right to avail of that health care and also the ability to safely provide this service. It is a balance of proportionality.
“I will fiercely protect the right to protest. It is a cornerstone of democratic society and a freedom that we must all hold in deep regard. However, we live in complex and dynamic societies and communities.
“Within that, as we have seen time and time again in our courts, sometimes rights will compete. It is then the job of the judicial system, or as now, the legislature, to ensure that proportionality is applied so that a balance may be struck and I believe that this bill has attempted to do that,” he said.
The deputy was speaking on Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023.
Deputy Pringle said: “We know from multiple reports that anti-choice protests outside of abortion service providers has a massively negative impact on both the safe provision of the services, and the well-being of those who need to avail of them.”
He cited a 2019 English Court of Appeal case that held a safe access zone was a proportionate measure when balanced against the right of protesters, and an ECHR case that found in order for an interference with the right to protest to be allowed, it must be prescribed by law.
Deputy Pringle said: “If we are all in agreement that safe zones are necessary to allow for the safe and accessible provision of abortion services as legal health care, then it is vital that this bill comes into effect.”
The deputy said: “The 2022 Unplanned Pregnancy and Abortion Care Study discusses the legacy of stigma in Ireland in relation to abortion and the negative effect this has in terms of the provision of services. A separate 2021 study found that Irish providers also experience considerable stigma.”
He said: “It is time for the Government and elected officials to ensure that the rhetoric and narrative surrounding abortion is in line with our global peers. Abortion is health care and the denial of it as service is a breach of human rights.
“Imagine if we allowed other moralistic beliefs to interfere so detrimentally with other health care provisions. If protesters were permitted to protest in a manner that directly made nurses and doctors feel unsafe for providing blood transfusions, and added psychological trauma to those who had to avail of it. If people felt threatened and their privacy violated for availing of legal, recognised forms of health care. I can assure you that if men in our society were facing this day in and day out, it would have been made law five years ago and would have been sorted out a long, long time ago.”
Deputy Pringle said: “The narrative, education and discourse surrounding abortion must change. The focus must shift from morality to legality and reality.
“The reality is that abortion is health care. The reality is that abortion is legal. The reality is that these protests fail utterly to recognise the nuance and deeply personal decisions and facts that are being faced by those who seek abortion services. The reality is that these protests do not change those facts, they merely serve to contribute to a harmful and dangerous legal and medical environment.
“Abortion is health care, and that is the reality that has to be recognised,” he said.
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