A leading Donegal-born barrister has accused Health Minister Simon Harris of making a dangerous mistake by failing to ensure safe access zones around clinics for women seeking reproductive medical help.
Dungloe barrister David Greene said that this was sheer incompetence by the Health Minister with potentially drastic consequences for women in need or urgent care.
“Women should not have to run a gauntlet of fear, victimisation and trauma just to access their legally-enshrined right to medical care.
“Anyone who thought about this issue for more than ten seconds realised that safe access zones were a crucial part of legal reforms, yet this Health Minister thought it was better to rush through legislation than to make sure it was right from the start.”
The Department of Health and the Attorney General’s Office have been in discussions over changes to the legislation for a number of months.
Plans are afoot for draft legislation to go to Cabinet this year, but no date has yet been set.
According to David Greene, who is a senior advisor to the Queensland Government in Australia, this isn’t good enough.
“Simon Harris needs to stop dragging his feet on this issue and push through the necessary reforms. There are plenty of examples around the world, with best practice suggesting a 150 meter safe access zone is preferred.
“150 meters achieves the best balance between a woman’s right to privacy and a protestor’s right to protest.
“At it stands, you can’t put up an election sign within 50 meters of a polling place, yet women going to their local doctor run the risk of being bullied and harassed. It’s not good enough,” he said.
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