We Won't Accept a No Vote - Minister

23.03.2018


Abortion campaigners will not accept a No vote in the forthcoming referendum, Minister for Social Protection Regina Doherty has said. “The people who have brought us, and who have been very vocal on this issue for a number of years, they are certainly not going to accept a No,” Minister Doherty told The Irish Times. “It will probably make them redouble their efforts.” Mrs Doherty also said her previous opposition to the legalisation of abortion was “born out of ignorance”.

 

Mrs Doherty was responding to queries about how the Government would respond if there were a No vote, and whether another referendum on the subject would be called in the future if the current proposal was defeated. While declining to say directly if the Government would call a second poll in the event of a rejection, Mrs Doherty said she envisaged the pro-choice movement would strongly push for one.

 

“There is a growing cohort of people that have woken up in the last number of years. And maybe a lot of people who have already been awake for a number of years on this issue but just maybe weren’t being listened to. That it isn’t acceptable,” Mrs Doherty said.

 

Mrs Doherty said she pro-life but has changed her mind in recent years. “I don’t agree with abortion. It’s not something that I think I could do. And that’s because of my faith, upbringing. I’m a Catholic. But that doesn’t mean that I have a right to choose and make a decision for you or for you. And that’s where I’ve changed in the last couple of years.” She said her previous position against abortion was “born out of ignorance”. “It was only when I informed myself that I realised just how ignorant I actually was,” she said.

The Irish Times. March 17.

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