(Pro Life Campaign) Wednesday’s result in the Dáil was a stunning and hard-fought pro-life victory.
A fuller analysis will take time. There is more to examine about what happened, why the result was so emphatic, and what it tells us about the changing mood inside Leinster House. But several things are already clear.
First, this win would not have happened without the outstanding core group of pro-life TDs who stood firm and did not let us down. Their courage, consistency and resolve were central to the outcome.
Second, the pro-life lobbying effort in the final 72 hours before the vote made a decisive difference. It caught many senior members of Government completely off guard. At one point, they even appeared to be looking for a way to avoid a vote altogether. In the end, they were forced to make a quick calculation: did they want to be on the winning side or the losing side?
The final result spoke for itself: 85 TDs voted against the Social Democrats’ bill, 30 voted in favour, and 36 abstained.
Tweet This: Irish parliamentarians voted 85-30 in favour of protections for life Wednesday-a huge win after the devastating referendum loss 8 years ago.
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In face-to-face meetings, it was very apparent that TDs are aware of the shift taking place in public attitudes. At the very least, they acknowledge a growing openness among people to give the pro-life message another hearing. That matters.
There was also some acknowledgement that many of the warnings made before the referendum have, sadly, come to pass. The sheer enormity of the fact that 1 in 6 pregnancies now ends in abortion is beginning to sink in.
The arguments put forward by the Social Democrats were shallow and poorly thought through. They failed to persuade TDs who were undecided. In particular, they had no serious answer to the point that many women who attend a first abortion appointment do not return after the three-day reflection period has elapsed. That fact clearly gave some TDs pause.
It was also obvious that there was no significant grassroots push from the pro-abortion side for the changes being proposed. By contrast, TDs encountered an intense and focused pro-life effort urging them to retain the three-day wait and resist any further expansion of the grounds for abortion.
There has been speculation about why Micheál Martin and Simon Harris entered the chamber moments before the vote to oppose the bill. Both had missed the Paul Murphy abortion vote before Christmas. It is reasonable to suggest that at least part of their motivation was political: to shore up their leadership positions and signal that they are more in touch with the views of their backbenchers and grassroots supporters.
22 TDs were absent for the vote. Some were ministers away on Government business. But there is little doubt that others deliberately avoided the chamber rather than nail their colours to the mast. The reasons for some of the no shows will become more apparent in the days ahead.
As with the People Before Profit-Solidarity motion before Christmas, the Social Democrats badly misread the mood of their parliamentary colleagues by bringing forward such an extreme proposal.
That said, the threat to the three-day wait – and of further widening of the abortion law – is far from over.
Sinn Féin’s decision to abstain should not be mistaken for a sign that the party is moving in the right direction. The contributions from its representatives in the Dáil suggest the opposite. They are trying to play things cute and have it every way, while remaining firmly wedded to an anti-life position. Their own bill to abolish the three-day wait is already before the Dáil and will come down the tracks soon. We need to be ready to face it down.
On paper, the current Dáil arithmetic is not in our favour. That makes it all the more encouraging that two major wins have been secured in six months. There is a clear pro-life shift underway in the Dáil, and recent election results suggest that momentum will continue to grow.
But nothing can be taken for granted. We must keep the pedal to the floor and do everything possible to hasten change in the right direction.
There will be more votes. There may be losses as well as wins in the short term. That is why focus, discipline and persistence are essential.
Thanks again to everyone whose efforts in recent days helped deliver this powerful victory. Now we must stay focused – and keep the wins coming!
Editor's note: This article was published by Pro Life Campaign and is reprinted with permission.
