Taoiseach Enda Kenny announced Wednesday that the Irish government had reached its final decisions regarding abortion legislation in Ireland and that the final rulings were to be published that evening.
"The discussions were very constructive and very coherent and in keeping with the objective of the Government here," said Kenny on Wednesday.
Kenny made his comments while onto the launch of a report by the American Chamber of Commerce Ireland entitled 'The Case for Investing in Europe,’ reports the Irish Independent.
The Cabinet’s deliberations about the pending legislation were finished after two meetings on June 12, which concluded around 2pm.
Several issues surrounding abortion in Ireland are expected to be outlined in the new legislation. Such issues include a definition of institutions where abortions will be carried out; what psychiatrists will be involved in assessments of suicidal pregnant women; a criminal offense of carrying out an illegal abortion.
With the legislation due out very soon, Kenny has already come under fire from pro-lifers, as the Irish Times reports. Kenny told the Dail, “I am now being branded by personnel around the country as being a murderer. I’m going to have on my soul the death of 20 million babies. I’m getting medals, scapulars, plastic foetuses, letters written in blood, telephone calls all over the system and it’s not confined to me.”
However, Kenny defended himself saying that he is a Taoiseach for all the people of Ireland, and that it “is not confined to any sector of the people, it is for all the people. Therefore I am proud to stand here as a public representative, who happens to be a Catholic but not a Catholic Taoiseach. I am a Taoiseach for all the people and that’s my job.”
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