What do Nurses and Midwives say about the 8th Amendment?

Let's ask them, shall we?

Marie Donnelly, Nurse.

“Abortion on demand is not healthcare – it usually takes the life of a healthy baby being carried by a health mother. Minister Harris’ plan will throw the medical system into chaos”

Over 130 nurses and midwives from all over Ireland have signed a statement calling upon the 8th to be retained, stating that the proposed law simply goes too far.

“Like many of you, we are troubled by difficult cases. When a woman is told her baby may not survive, we are there. When a woman has been raped, we are compassionate, and we understand their pain.

But a law that would introduce abortion on this scale is not what we need, and not something we can cope with.” The statement can be read in full HERE. (Text below)

“To the Irish public,

We are nurses, and midwives, and we are voting no.

We came into this profession so that we could help to save lives, and bring new lives into the world. Now, we are being asked to end them.

On May 25th, we will be asked to give our approval for a law that would introduce abortion for perfectly healthy babies, and perfectly healthy mothers, for any reason. The law will also allow the abortion of a perfectly healthy on mental health grounds up to six months. In the UK, 97% of all abortions are on healthy babies, and 97% are on mental health grounds.

We are being asked, in short, to change the culture of Ireland completely. In a few short years, unless Ireland is different from every other country that has gone down this road, abortion will move from being the last resort, to the first option presented to a pregnant woman.

Even if this proposal were not horrific, it would be completely impractical. Irish medicine is in a crisis. Waiting lists have never been longer – for the elderly, for disabled children, for pregnant mothers. Abortions cannot go on a waiting list for nine months – they must be done now, before there is a risk that the baby will be born. The Government is proposing that 5,000 additional operations and procedures should be given priority over those people currently waiting too long for the help they need. On a very practical level, this is gravely immoral. This is abortion on demand, and the Government expect GPs and hospitals to carry it out.

Simon Harris has not consulted the very people he wants to carry out these abortions. He has said he will not talk to us until the referendum has passed. That will be too late. He wants to wreck our health service first, and ask us later. This has been the pattern of his time in office – and it is time to say NO.

As the people on the front lines of the health service, and the people who do our best for pregnant women, we know the truth: No Irish woman needs to fear being pregnant in Ireland. Our pre-natal services are amongst the best in the world. If you have a problem, we will help you, and your baby, and you will be okay.

But today, we are asking you to help us.

Please do not make us, or our colleagues, take part in the abortion of healthy babies, of healthy mothers.

Please do not let Simon Harris clog up our health service with 5,000 uneccesary, and gruesome procedures, that will take priority over our patients on waiting lists. You cannot wait nine months for an abortion – abortions must come first.

Please, don’t copy the mistake they have made in Britain, where one in five pregnancies end in abortion, and where nine out of ten diagnosed cases of Downs Syndrome end in abortion.

Like many of you, we are troubled by difficult cases. When a woman is told her baby may not survive, we are there. When a woman has been raped, we are often the first to see her. We are compassionate, and we understand their pain.

But a law that would introduce abortion on this scale is not what we need, and not something we can cope with. So please, on May 25th, vote NO to the Government’s proposals. They are unjust, they will harm mothers, they will harm our health service, and they will take the lives of perfectly healthy unborn babies.”