Labour backbencher insists his fatal foetal abnormality bill is constitutional
A Labour TD has officially introduced legislation which would allow abortion in the case of fatal foetal abnormality.
Backbencher Michael McNamara, who is a barrister by profession, said the bill is not a breach of the Constitution.
No date has yet been set for any debate on the bill, but it is not expected to be voted on until after the summer break.
But Deputy McNamara is urging the government to give TDs the greatest possible chance to see if the move would be legal or not:
"It's an increasing phenomenon in the lifetime of this Government that we're hearing that bills - that there might be constitutional issues surrounding them," he said in the Dáil.
"And then it grows legs, and it becomes that they're unconstitutional, and suddenly they're killed off because of political expediency, in the name of unconstitutionality."
