The D Case: A Case Study in Cowardice

Leadership Needed On A Difficult Issue

Michael McDowell:

We are dealing here with a balance of constitutional rights

Doctors For Choice:

It is time to end the political hypocrisy surrounding abortion and women’s health care in this country. We call on leaders of all political parties to respond to our statement that Miss D be offered a termination of pregnancy in Ireland

Peter Straub:

So every life, being no more or less than a lifetime, is brief: every life, being brief is equal.

Earlier this weak, I complained about the absence of social issues from the 2007 election campaign. All parties seem to be deliberately avoiding any remotely controversial. This can be best appreciated when you examine the way in which almost all political candidates have avoided commenting on the Miss D. case that was under examination in the High Court.

For those who don’t know, Miss D. is a 17 year old who is currently in the care of the Health Service Executive. She is pregnant with an 18 week old foetus who has anencephaly, a condition that usually results in death after a short period of time outside the womb.

Once again, the sorry state of Irish abortion law has been highlighted. The ‘Irish solution to the Irish solution’ was exposed as a silly unfeasible fudge.

If Ireland recognises the right of the unborn to life up to the point where it allows the unborn representation in court, why then is it funding the termination of the unborn’s life outside of the state?

People have been hard of the H.S.E, but we must remember that from the H.S.E.’s perspective, this was not about one child, but two. The actions taken by the HSE in the D case seem logical enough when you consider the fact that we supposedly recognise the unborn as our equals. The problem is that when it comes to abortion, the people of Ireland (including the judiciary) are not driven by logic or reason, but by emotion. Their emotions lead them to a conclusion, and it is only after that conlcusion is arrived at that they attempted to construct a rational justification fo it.

Generally, Irish people don’t like abortion. We have an unfortunate predisposition to become rather fond of babies and when we visualise a foetus, we imagine it to be like a mini-baby. And who would stand by and let a little baby be killed?

But at the same time, we also rather like teenagers and we especially sympathise with those who have tragic stories. Who wants to force a rape victim or mentally unstable teen to go through a pregnancy against their will?

Every time a new case comes before the High Court, the judges seem to side with whoever has the ‘best’ sob story, - the poor girl, or the helpless little baby.

Tonight, the HSE and the girl’s legal team appear to be arriving at a solution. In this case, the girl has won our sympathy. The foetus will be forgotten.

But this is no way to run a country. Where is the leadership? Why is it that no political leader is willing to point out that the our current legal situation in regards abortion is absurd? Who is willing to bring this pressing issue into the spotlight not in an effort to appease party supporters, but to present the electorate with an informed choice, not just about minor pieces of legislation but about the issue of abortion as a whole.

Imagine for a moment that a pregnant teen in the care of the state announced that she planned to leave the country in order to have her baby abroad where it could be legally sold into slavery. Should the state pay for this trip? Should it pay for any legal fees involved in the transaction? Would it make a difference if the baby had suffered from severe autism and/or a terminal disease of some sort that meant it would not reach adulthood?

This hypothetical situation mirrors the D case in every way. Yet, somehow, I find it hard to imagine that the HSE would fund the activities of this hypothetical girl. We just don’t feel any sympathy for the girl in the hypothetical situation. Is slavery somehow worse than death? At what point

Of course, some would argue that we should not bring the hypothetical into a situation like this, that we should focus on the practical. They are wrong.

Irish law prohibits abortions except under the most limited of circumstances, but practically, almost every woman in Ireland has access to abortion services should they ever wish to terminate their pregnancy. This situation has suited pretty much everybody until now, because it meant that the ‘hard cases’ never came before us. Once upon a time, the D case was a hypothetical case. Once upon a time, the X case was hypothetical, and then, tragically, it wasn’t. We need to think about the implications of any decision and not just its immediate impact.

Is one individual’s right to life more important than another’s reproductive rights? Does viability matter? Are there degrees of humanity? If neonates with the intellectual capacity of a chicken have a right to life, then what of chickens and chimps? It it our intellectual capacities that qualify us for membership of society?

We need to decide upon the principles that should guide the law in this area. We need to decide when we recognise the unborn as human and what rights being human entails. We need to act in accordance with these principles.

We need to stop doing what feels right, and do what is right.

We cannot continue on the path past governments have chosen. When drug use has become so prevalent that vicious criminals become millionaires in the absence of legitimate suppliers, we need politicians to examine that prohibition, however popular it might be. When women are imported into the country and used as sex slaves by unscrupulous entrepreneurs, we need to examine the possibility that our country might be made better by legalising prostitution.

We need a government who will promote debate. We need a Taoiseach who will not wait for disaster to strike, but who will prepare for disaster before it happens. We need TDs who will provide us with more light and less heat. We need people who will provide us with the facts, who will provide us with a choice and who will act in accordance with our informed choices. In short, we need leaders, not cowards who hide behind cheque books.