The Assisted Human Reproduction (AHR) Bill, which will establish a legal framework for both domestic and international surrogacy in the State, has today passed all stages in the Oireachtas.
The Bill will see Ireland legislate for both domestic and international surrogacy. The legislation further regulates a range of practices, including gamete and embryo donation for assisted human reproduction and research, embryo and stem cell research, preimplantation genetic testing of embryos, and posthumous assisted human reproduction.
Under the law, clinics providing AHR treatment in the State will be required to hold a license granted by a new authority, established under the legislation.
A round of applause was carried out for Fine Gael Senator Mary Seery Kearney, a surrogacy campaigner and mother of a child born via a surrogate. However, concerns had been expressed by several Senators regarding the “rushing” of the legislation, which was passed without a vote in the Dail, through the Oireachtas.
Earlier, an amendment to the Seanad’s Order of Business was proposed by Senator Sharon Keogan and Senator Ronan Mullen, to adjourn the remaining stages of the Bill to allow more time for discussion. This was seconded by Senator Michael McDowell, who said that while he did not share the views of many expressed in the House relating to IVF and “some aspects of surrogacy,” it remained “important that we have a collective debate.”
“There should be no emotion, just simple discussion, because there are serious issues involved,” Senator McDowell said. The former Attorney General called for “detailed consideration” as he urged for discussion on the Bill to be conducted in “a less emotional way.”
“I received an email from Senator Mullen which raised an issue we should think about further. Will a single male person be in a position to enter into a surrogacy contract and have a child by surrogacy in circumstances where that person would not be considered a suitable person to adopt a child? That is a fundamental question. We are walking straight into that without considering the implications carefully,” he continued.
“Surrogacy is justifiable. As I said on previous occasions, I was involved in the only case concerning surrogacy which appeared in the Supreme Court and which was decided on other matters. Curtailing this debate without carefully thinking through all of the implications of what we are doing is wrong.
“The Bill would benefit from detailed consideration. It would be improved if we all listened to each other in a dispassionate and less emotional way.”
Six senators – Senators Michael McDowell, Rónán Mullen, Tom Clonan, Victor Boyhan, Gerard Craughwell, and Sharon Keogan – voted in favour of the amendment.
Proposing the amendment, Senator Keogan said that the Order of Business, which saw the AHR Bill pass both committee stage and final stage, was “an insult” to the Seanad given that it was “such an important piece of legislation.”
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In a news release, Senator Ronan Mullen condemned what he called the “bizarre, cruel and perverse” surrogacy proposals which he said had been “rushed through” the Seanad.
The Independent Senator, a vocal critic of the proposals, on Thursday hit out at a “creeping gender agenda” and “sinister disregard for the will of the public” around the recognition of the role and importance of mothers’ in the government’s AHR Bill.
He pointed out that the legislation provides that two intending parents are not required and that a single male aged 21 or over may be an ‘intending parent’ and enter a surrogacy agreement with a woman in Ireland or overseas.
“Perversely, the Bill as it stands allows for the possibility that the genetic father of a child could be registered as that child’s mother,” he said in a statement. “There is nothing in the Bill to prevent that male genetic parent from being designated as the ‘mother’ in any parental order or subsequent civil registration.
“This could happen for example in the case of a male who has availed of the provisions of the Gender Recognition Act 2015 to have a ‘preferred gender’ of female.”
“The possibility of such outcomes is not accidental. It is another illustration of the creeping gender agenda which the Government has been pushing for some time. We also see it in the Government’s bizarre and convoluted definition of ‘gender’ in the controversial ‘Hate Speech’ legislation,” Mullen said.
“If there is one thing that was clear from the resounding rejection of the recent ‘Family’ and ‘Care’ referendums, it is that people don’t want the idea of ‘mothers’ and what they represent being disrespected by the Government. The wording of this legislation reveals a sinister disregard for the will of the public around the recognition of the role and importance of mothers in our society.”
Senator Mullen also said there had been little public discussion of the Bill, pointing out how it had passed the Dáil “without a single vote being called, and media have largely failed to shine a light on the Government’s bizarre, cruel and perverse proposals within its pages.”
“The idea that a biological male who has availed of AHR services could have himself designated as a ‘mother’ will be abhorrent to most people. But it is just one example of the cynicism and recklessness of the Government with this surrogacy legislation, which will enable the exploitation of impoverished women in Ireland and especially in poorer countries abroad by financially advantaged women and men who want a baby created to their own preference,” the Galway Senator continued.
“The Government is determined to use the ‘guillotine’ today in the Seanad to forge ahead with this proposal which will exploit poor women and commodify children. The public should not let the matter rest however and hopefully many will raise their voices in protest,” he concluded.
Additionally, advocacy group The Countess, raised concerns that the “radical” Bill was being “forced through by guillotine to avoid public scrutiny.”
“The Committee stage of the Assisted Human Reproduction Bill saw 26 amendments rejected, including a bar on convicted sex offenders applying for surrogacy after the amendment tabled by Senator Keogan was deemed unnecessary by the Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly.
In addition, single men aged 21 and above will be entitled to apply to commission a baby by acquiring eggs and a surrogate mother under the bill,” Laoise de Brún BL, founder and CEO of The Countess, said in a statement.
She also said that opportunities to embed crucial safeguards in the legislation had been missed. The campaigner further condemned the committee for “failing to protect against human trafficking” after an amendment to increase the residency required for surrogate mothers to five years from two years was rejected, making it easier for women to be trafficked into the country for the sole purpose of surrogacy.
In a statement, Senator Seery Kearney, said Ireland had become the first country to legislate for a framework that enshrines the Verona Principles. She welcomed the legal framework contained within the legislation for both domestic and international surrogacy.
“For me, today is a culmination of ten years of painstaking advocacy to bring about a legal framework to protect the rights and enforce the responsibilities of everyone involved in a surrogacy journey; the child, the surrogate mother, and the intended parents. Applications for parental orders, including my own, will hopefully commence this autumn and the comfort and relief this gives to families is immeasurable,” she said.
The Bill will now be sent to President Michael D Higgins for consideration before it is signed.
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