Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has been accused of “lying” in the Seanad during an explosive debate on exclusion zones around abortion clinics.
The accusation was made by Independent Senator Ronan Mullen as he was discussing the Health (Termination of Pregnancy Services) (Safe Access Zones) Bill 2023, which seeks to ban any kind of demonstration – including peaceful demonstrations like silent prayer – near to abortion providers.
“AN AN AGENDA TO CURTAIL FREE SPEECH IN IRISH SOCIETY”
Mullen argued that the Bill was a “problem for our democracy” in that it hindered people’s right to free speech and free expression, questioning “constitutionality” of the proposed legislation. He said that, should an abusive, threatening or intimidating display take place, existing public order legislation would adequately address such issues.
“The Government is on board with an agenda to curtail free speech in Irish society,” he said.
However, Minister Stephen Donnelly accused opponents of the legislation of wanting to get “right up in the face” of women trying to procure abortions.
“THEY WILL NOT RESPECT ANY PRIVACY OR DIGNITY”
“Unfortunately, people are opposing this and saying they will not create a safe space or respect any distance,” he said.
“They will not respect any privacy or dignity. When women are in the kind of situation that Senators McGreehan and Clonan have talked about, the opponents of this Bill would say, ‘We want to be right up in their face, we do not care what they are going through, it is important that we have all of our posters and our protests. We do not care what they say. We will not respect what they say. We will drive on.'”
“YOU’RE LYING – THAT IS A LIE”
Senator Mullen interrupted, saying “This is misinformation,” accusing the Minister of having “low standards in high places.”
Donnelly replied that Mullen had made the “insidious claim” that pro-life protests were not happening outside abortion providers, and that individuals claiming this was happening had “just made that up.”
“No, not true. You’re lying. That is a lie,” Mullen said, with Donnelly replying that he should not use the word “lie” in the chamber because “It is about respecting the Chair and the Seanad.”
“It’s about respecting the truth as well,” Mullen responded.
“INSIDIOUS, NASTY LITTLE COMMENTS”
The Minister continued, reading out a statement by the HSE claiming that maternity sites in Dublin had seen “anti-abortion protests or activity on a weekly, if not daily basis” since 2019.
He then accused Mullen of being “utterly disingenuous”, adding: “He should retract his insidious, nasty little comments from the record.”
Mullen responded that he would “expose” the Minister’s “dishonesty,” saying “Your approach is vacuous and unprincipled.”
“COMPLETELY CORRUPT”
“I regard the Minister’s approach to be completely dishonest,” said Mullen, going on to accuse Donnelly of conducting the abortion review in a “completely corrupt” fashion.
“He represents a Government that is completely dishonest, that corrals power and listens only to certain insiders,” he said.
“This Minister has an appalling record of not engaging in any way with pro-life people, respectful people who have a case to make. We saw the completely corrupt way in which he drove the three-year review of the abortion legislation.”
“The Minister presided over a completely corrupt process, whereby the three-year review on abortion was supposed to be carried out by an independent person. He gave that commitment at a certain point. He said there would be public recruitment of the person. In the end the Government chose a person who was not independent and who had expressed views in favour of changes to our abortion law.”
“THE ARROGANCE OF POWER IS CLEARLY ON DISPLAY”
Mullen went on to rip the government, saying he “utterly deplored” the way the Minister has conducted himself during his time in office.
“I do not have any respect for the way the Minister carries out his responsibilities as the Minister for Health,” he said.
“I do not have anything against the Minister personally, but I utterly deplore how he has carried out his duties as Minister for Health. The Government he represents has been utterly unprincipled and utterly disrespectful of human life and, in recent times, utterly disrespectful of dissent. The arrogance of power is clearly on display.”
The contested the Minister’s HSE statement, arguing that it was a “Borg-like bureaucracy” that “says all the things that the Government would like it to say.”
“THE SENATOR APPEARS TO BE SUGGESTING THAT THE HSE IS LYING”
“The Senator appears to be suggesting that the HSE is lying,” Donnelly responded.
“It is an official document. It is not a note to me. It is an official presentation to the Oireachtas committee.”
Mullen pushed back on this point.
“THE HSE IS WORRYINGLY EITHER IN THE POCKETS OF POLITICIANS OR ACTIVISTS”
“This is the same HSE that is, worryingly, either in the pockets of politicians or activists, as we heard in the context of the area of transgender and the treatment of children and adults with gender dysphoria,” he said.
The full debate can be read here.
Notably, in 2022, Gript’s Gary Kavanagh published the findings of investigation in which he contacted every hospital that provides maternity services in Ireland, asking all 19 of them if they had ever received a formal complaint from staff or patients about pro-life protestors. Of the 16 hospitals that responded, none had ever received any such complaint, nor did they detail any incident in which protestors had attempted to harass or intimidate patients.
For years politicians, media columnists, and NGOS have claimed that pro-life protesters have been harassing & intimidating women outside maternity hospitals. Gript can reveal that the evidence suggests that claim is entirely untrue.https://t.co/3UPAv51yOU
— gript (@griptmedia) January 9, 2022
Moreover, in January of this year, the Master of Dublin’s Rotunda Hospital has said he “can’t remember” the last time an abortion protest of any kind took place outside the hospital.
The Master of the Rotunda Hospital has said he “can’t remember” the last time an abortion protest took place outside the maternity hospital. It follows TDs passing the exclusion zones Bill in November, legislation described as "a government priority."https://t.co/hjW04bZt9b
— gript (@griptmedia) January 5, 2024