{"id":258929,"date":"2021-12-15T06:46:37","date_gmt":"2021-12-15T12:46:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=258929"},"modified":"2021-12-15T12:35:22","modified_gmt":"2021-12-15T18:35:22","slug":"ireland-fetal-pain-abortion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/ireland-fetal-pain-abortion\/","title":{"rendered":"Ireland legislature blocks vote on bill requiring fetal pain relief during abortion"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

UPDATE, 12\/15\/21, 1:28p EST:<\/strong> According to the Pro Life Campaign in Ireland, “the Government announced today that it would be tabling an amendment on the foetal pain bill, to block\u00a0it from moving forward,” the group wrote in an email. Group spokesperson\u00a0Eil\u00eds Mulroy said, “The Government knows there is huge support for the idea of introducing humanitarian pain relief for unborn babies prior to late term abortions. They cannot keep running away from their responsibilities on the issue,” adding that such a law on fetal pain “is gaining momentum with each passing day.” Mulroy also noted:<\/p>\n

On the very day that the Government is seeking to block\u00a0the passage of the \u2018Foetal Pain Relief Bill\u2019, they are setting aside time in the D\u00e1il to progress a bill on animal welfare. It is an affront to human dignity that in Ireland today animals have more rights than unborn babies. The Animal Health and Welfare Act of 2013 ensures that animals are given pain relief before procedures are carried out that could cause them any pain or distress. The very least we can do is provide the same for unborn babies before late-term abortions.<\/em><\/p>\n

12\/15\/21:<\/strong> The legislature in Ireland is advancing a bill acknowledging the pain capabilities of preborn babies \u2014 while failing to protect their right to life \u2014\u00a0requiring that babies be given pain relief prior to being killed in an abortion procedure.<\/p>\n

The Fetal Pain Relief bill<\/a>, sponsored by 11 pro-life Irish lawmakers, would amend the 2018 act that made abortion legal in the country, adding a requirement for pain relief for a baby aborted at 20 weeks or later. The bill reads, in part, that \u201cthe medical practitioner who is to carry out the termination of pregnancy shall administer or cause to be administered to the foetus an appropriate anaesthetic or analgesic so as to prevent or relieve as far as practicable any pain being caused to the foetus during or arising from the termination of pregnancy.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Pro Life Campaign<\/a> in Ireland, “over\u00a0100 healthcare professionals, including 35 doctors and over 40 nurses, has urged TDs to vote in favour of progressing the Foetal Pain Relief Bill 2021 to committee stage tomorrow, Wednesday, 15th December.”<\/p>\n

Catherine Robinson, spokesperson for Right to Life UK<\/a>, called the bill \u201cextremely modest,\u201d but acknowledged it as a step forward for Ireland. \u201cEven if there were doubt about whether or not the baby could feel pain, it is surely a matter of basic precaution and decency that we should assume the baby can, just in case we are unnecessarily causing grave suffering. Of course, introducing such measures doesn\u2019t excuse the tragic injustice that is abortion, but failure to provide pain relief is an additional cruelty.”<\/p>\n

READ: Ireland\u2019s 3-day abortion waiting period for estimated to have saved 1,500 lives<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The proposed measure applies largely to second trimester abortions. A second trimester abortion is known as a dilation and evacuation (or D&E) abortion. During the procedure, after the mother\u2019s cervix is dilated and the amniotic fluid is removed, the preborn baby\u2019s limbs and body parts are torn from his body piece by piece with a grasping instrument, and the baby\u2019s skull is crushed and removed as well. Without pain relief, this extraordinarily violent death would also be extraordinarily painful.<\/p>\n