Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Assembly buries head in sand
Before they discussed the AWB, the Assembly had a lengthy debate yesterday on the Department of Health’s draft guidelines on termination of pregnancy. The motion, proposed by the DUP’s Iris Robinson and Jeffrey Donaldson both of whom made reference to this petition, opposed “the introduction of the proposed guidelines on the termination of pregnancy in Northern Ireland; believes that the guidelines are flawed; and calls on the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to abandon any attempt to make abortion more widely available in Northern Ireland.” After the second half of the debate the Assembly resolved, without a recorded vote, in favour of the motion. Leaving the Health Minister to re-draft guidelines which took 3 years to draft and which the Department, after a lengthy court battle, had to be instructed by a High Court ruling to produce. However, despite the expressed concerns of various MLAs during the debate, the legislation involved is a reserved matter and, as such, the proposed guidelines do not, as some argued, change the legal position here on this issue.
The MLAs resolved the following
Question, That the amendment be made, put and negatived.
Main Question put and agreed to.
Resolved:
That this Assembly opposes the introduction of the proposed guidelines on the termination of pregnancy in Northern Ireland; believes that the guidelines are flawed; and calls on the Minister of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to abandon any attempt to make abortion more widely available in Northern Ireland.
Sending the Health Minister back to the drawing board.. [Have the NI Human Rights Commission got anything to say? - Ed]
Pete Baker @ 02:39 PM
I’d suspect there’d be a contempt of court ruling at some point.
But I’d need to consult with my legal advisors on any more detail.
Posted by on Oct 25, 2007 @ 09:55 PM“It might help to re-focus the conversation if I point out that the actual topic is the Assembly’s rejection of guidelines to health professionals on the existing law.”
Because you said might would it be okay to drive home a few more derogatory comments before returning to Axis of Evil Robinson and Jesus Jeffrey’s comments?
It’s just MCT is a part of the heads in the sand brigade in terms of denying the reality that people go elsewhere after having reached their ultimate decision.
Posted by on Oct 26, 2007 @ 12:15 AMSo, Middle Class ****, now we have it. You won’t control any women yourself but you will elect those of like mind to legislate so that the state can control them on your behalf by proxy.
That still indicates to me an irrational Freudian fear of women having individual control over their own bodies and completely ignores the fact that women, as the sorry history of back-street and self-induced abortion has shown, will take back that control in any case, whatever the state dictates when their plight becomes intolerable.I prefer compassion before control.
Posted by on Oct 26, 2007 @ 07:34 AM“So, Middle Class ****, now we have it. You won’t control any women yourself but you will elect those of like mind to legislate so that the state can control them on your behalf by proxy. “
That’s a pretty succinct encapsulation of democracy, there.
Posted by on Oct 26, 2007 @ 08:55 AMIf anyone wants to actually see what the Assembly members said they only have to go to
http://www.niassembly.gov.uk/record/reports2007/071022.htm
where they can see the exellent speeches in full, without the left wing facist twist put in by some of the posters here.
Also there were well publisized legal flaws with the guidelines, IE: they got the LAW WRONG.
How could anyone defend them when they actually MISSED OUT half of the 1945 statute by MISTAKE and then gave the OPPOSITE advise.
Doctors could be prosecuted if the law is improperly stated, or does that not bother anyone?
Posted by on Oct 30, 2007 @ 04:22 PM
