Over 85 percent of Irish people support limited abortion

But, Adrienrain, Your "currently available information" is only from ONE source and that source is the tragically deceased woman's husband. How on earth would you know he is speaking the truth? Maybe he is, maybe he isn't. Personally, I just cannot see any medical person being totally stupid enough to say "You cannot have an abortion because this is a Catholic country". For a start, that statement would be factually incorrect and secondly it would be an amazingly daft comment for a medical person to make. As for Mrs. Halappanavar dying "because she was not allowed an abortion", just about every medical expert now states that this statement is wrong. So, please don't jump on the anti-Catholic, anti-Ireland runaway bandwagon. There is going to be a lot of egg flying around after the investigation and I am sure you would prefer not to have it all over YOUR face, as so many others will have it. By the way, you might have a rethink about your last sentence ("The fact remains........"). If we all were left to our own devices, to make our own decisions on everything without any constraint, without any input from others, without any rights for anyone but the person at the centre, that would result in what is known as "CHAOS".

To Gavin E: I made my comments based on currently available information. When other information becomes available, I will adjust accordingly. The fact remains that once the decision is in the hands of people other than the woman - or incubator if you prefer - her life is also in the hands of those others.

“I see that the pseudo-liberal wolf pack is out in force. This is nothing more than an attempt at social and cultural genocide against the Irish People and it is time for the Irish Government, in so far as one exists, to start expelling diplomats and officials from those countries whose media and other agencies are fermenting hatred against Ireland. It is time for all true Irish patriots to stand up and be counted and kick out the fascists and eugenicists who are creating these problems. And just for the record, I am not referring to the Catholic Church. Blaming the Catholic Church has become the new method of covering up the failings of a morally bankrupt liberal agenda. One only has to look at the disgusting analogies they use equating an unborn human being with a parasite or a tumour. If that’s what they think of the unborn, can you imagine what they think about the elderly and the handicapped? Ireland is one of the safest countries in the world in which to have a baby and always has been despite the torrent of lies and propaganda to the contrary. Our politicians in the Irish Parliamentary Party and our cowardly media (with one or two notable exceptions) have abandoned us to the wolves. We freed ourselves before with neither a Government or media to call our own, we can do it again. Eire Nua.” – Mike Roe

Have an "argument" with YOU, Eiriamach? And what would make you think that I would waste my time trying to reason with a person who twists, turns, spins and blows out methane all at the same time, and has the gall to consider that he is producing some attempt at a logical argument? I'd prefer to watch a bunch of monkeys trying to get their brains around Pythagoras. People like you give me the creeps.

GaviE, surely you do not suppose that you've written an argument in your comment about methane? I have yet to see any response to my argument about impracticability. If you have one, let's see it; if you haven't any, then what is your point?

Eiriamach, Where do you get it from? I had always thought there was only so much methane in the world. Take a deep breath, light a match and ......................

Misneac, as I pointed out earlier, Irish law has sent Gardai to the homes of 13- and 14-year-old girls to prevent their leaving Ireland to have life-saving abortions elsewhere. It defies common sense to say that young teens and pre-teen girls can give birth without endangering their lives and permanently undermining their health. Children! Nature has not designed the bodies of children to give birth, even though they can become pregnant. Pregnancy is never safe for children, and the risks to mother and foetus do not substantially diminish until close to age 20. You're wrong also about the position of the Catholic Church. The position you stated is that of the Anglican churches. Read up on the Irish bishops' statement, which is identical to the current Constitutional section 40.3.3.

stanjames, I just now reported you for "hate speech". Just so you know it was me.

Shame on you Patrick Counihan for waving a Black Flag over the babies of Ireland Future. Shame on IC for pushing this evil lie. The majority of the Irish people have spoken repeatedly in referenda in support of the lives of their children and the future lives of Irish boys and girls. The propagation of this evil and the betrayel of motherhood is all contrived by the Population Controllers (the mega wealthy faceless men and women of the UN and the EU with the funds of Soros, Gates etc.) The gutless media who claw for headlines will sell Irelands soul for even less than 30 pieces of silver. Thank you Irish Central for enabling the deaths of innocent babies by promoting the use of vacuum suction machines, saline syringes and knives inside the wombs of Irish mothers.

Until we can get the bishops and the pope pregnant, its time the sexist church of Rome shut its mouth............I'm reminded (may have mentioned this before) that on a hearing re birth control in Wash. DC the people called to testify were 2 priests and 3 men, (or the reverse)

Niall, I have just watched "The Week in Politics" on RTE 1. Sean O'Rourke said that the 85% figure (that you headlined) and the 63% figure (that you buried way down your report) give "conflicting signals" and also said "they are somewhat conflicting figures". You chose to hedaline the 85% figure because it suits your agenda, and you then took me to task for pointing out your lack of balance. It appears that even the Lefty Liberal RTE agree with me. BTW, I was looking forward to your response to my remark about your one-liner. Do you just throw them out and then walk away? Bad policy. Loses readers (that's customers to you).

seanomelb, I have to smile at your attempt to force a choice on Gearoid4. He has written repeatedly that he is opposed, along with the Catholic Church, to deliberate abortion to save a pregnant woman's life. He hides behind the phrase "the equal right to life" of pregnant woman and foetus. Refusing to make the choice to terminate a pregnancy amounts to choosing by default to let women die in such cases. He will not say that straight out, but neither can he deny it. It's a death-driven principle based on the belief that women's lives have no value except in producing living offspring. It has no moral justification whatever.

Alisaann, I will say the same to you as I said earlier to Rose528. You are aware that 50% of unborn babies turn out to be male. Are you saying they don't have any rights, because their mother is a woman?

Yes, Gavin, you and others keep repeating the same evasion: "Ireland is almost at the top of the safety list" *because* Ireland exports its problem pregnancies for treatment in the UK and elsewhere. Would any pregnant woman who understands what the phrase "equal right to life of the mother" means in actual medical practice CHOOSE to deal with a problem pregnancy in Ireland? Article 40.3.3 (Eighth Amendment, 1983) of the Irish Constitution reads: "The State acknowledges the right to life of the unborn and, with due regard to the equal right to life of the mother, guarantees in its laws to respect, and, as far as practicable, by its laws to defend and vindicate that right." "As far as practicable" is pure cynicism, a dodge, a ruse, and a pious pretense: Cases like Savita Halappanavar's show with crystal clarity that it is not at all practicable to save a woman's life when physicians must await the death in utero of her foetus before scrambling to save her life when a timely abortion of the dying foetus could have saved the one life it was possible to save. Giving an "equal" right life to the foetus means that there can be no deliberate life-saving abortion, so it means in practice allowing the woman to die (slowly, in pain and anguish, in other words cruelly, because unnecessarily). That constitutional provision amounts to an equal death sentence for woman and foetus. It cannot in practice be an equal right to life. Until Irish law gives preference to saving the life of the pregnant woman in pre-viability cases (since a foetus cannot survive her death any more than it can survive miscarriage), the law gives NO protection to women's right to life.

Please dont be trying to blame the Catholic Church for the Savita tragedy .The teaching of Catholic Church clearly gives priority to the life of the Mother in such emergencies . Ireland without abortion is much safer for pregnant women than England or America ,and the Irish maternal death rate is ne of the lowest in the world ,at approximately 3 women per 100,000 . Britain 12 per 100,000 ,USA 24 per 100,000 . Ireland should tackle the negative bigoted and biased agenda driven publicity and point out that our maternal healthcare system is superb at bringing babies to full term without compromising the lives or health of their Mothers !!