The first duty of this House to my mind is to legislate for all the people in the entire country regardless of their religion, whether Catholic, Protestant, Jew or Dissenter. I submit that this Bill does not cover all the people in the country. It is the right of the churches in turn to make their own rules and advise their parishioners as to what they should do as far as family planning is concerned. In turn, it is the right of each person to make up his own mind, taking into consideration the advice of his or her particular Church on what a married person should do in regard to family planning. It is about time that we separated the Church from the State. As a State we must legislate for all the people. The choice in this Bill, and in other Bills that I have no doubt we shall be discussing in future years, is one that must be left to the individual. It is not the case that anybody is insisting that a married person or a single or divorced person must use contraception; if their Church tells them they should not use any form of contraception, pill or otherwise, that choice should be left to the individual and that should be made quite clear.
In this Bill we are interfering basically with human rights. The first human right is to have a choice to make up one's own mind as to what one should or should not do. I am very doubtful as to whether this Bill if taken to the Supreme Court would not be thrown out in the same way as in the McGee case. It is a humiliating thought in modern society to think that a married person must go before a doctor for the doctor to prescribe any form of family planning. Most doctors will probably be able to advise and probably some doctors will not encourage people to use any form of family planning. We must be realistic about this and I think the problem is most serious—many people are talking but they are not talking in the context of the present time—as far as a divorcee is concerned or a separated person. I hope the Minister will state how he suggests these people should secure any form of family planning. Probably he will not answer that but it is one of the questions that must be answered.
We are talking about a family planning Bill in a modern age—what happens to single people and even university students who at present are using different forms of contraception? My reading of the Bill indicates that there will be no more clinics as far as the universities are concerned. What happens to these people? I think that if a single person or a divorced person brings this legislation to the Supreme Court such a person will have a human right and we are legislation as a State.
In Northern Ireland contraception is freely available and has been all through my life and probably in my father's time, possibly since the beginning of the State in the twenties. Contraceptives are freely available there; they are sold in chemist's shop which sell whatever articles they are without requiring a doctor's prescription. I do not think anybody in southern Ireland can honestly say that morals in Northern Ireland are any worse than they are here. I would be first to admit that moral standards have been declining. This is part of modern society. I do not consider it a good thing but, life being what it is, we must accept that many single people, whether this Bill becomes an Act or not, are using and will be using contraceptives.
I understand that only a married person can be given this prescription by a doctor and that in turn a woman may go to a chemist's shop with the prescription—even though it is not a prescription—and the form of contraceptive required is handed out, whether it is the pill or any other form of contraceptive. What happens if the chemist sells contraceptives to an unmarried person? Is it intended that such a chemist will be prosecuted? If he sells contraceptives to a divorcee or separated person—I return to the fact that we have marriages breaking up at the present time—what happens as regards that chemist? What happens if the doctor prescribes contraceptives for a single person if that single person goes to the doctor after having intercourse and the doctor honestly feels this person would be better on contraceptives?
This is a Bill that has gone half way; it has certainly not gone far enough. I realise the Minister is in a dilemma in trying to satisfy everybody particularly when probably the vast majority of Deputies are the older type of Deputy and totally against legislating for any form of contraception. No doubt the time will come, and it will not be that long in coming with the number of young people we have in the country, when people will demand full human rights not only in the case of family planning but in regard to all forms of contraception. We are only hiding our heads in the sand if we think this storm will blow over. These people will demand the basic right to make up their own minds and this is only right.
There was recently reference in the media to a doctor who should know quoting the figure of over 7,000 women from southern Ireland having abortions in Britain at present. This is a dreadful fact about which we must be all very concerned, but I suggest that the connotation of this Bill, with its strict insistence that first, a person must go to a doctor and secondly must go to a pharmacist to get a simple thing handed out over a counter—which should have nothing at all to do with the doctor—is that people who want to have sexual intercourse will not bother to comply. The likely effect of this Bill is that people who wish to engage in sexual relations will not bother to use contraceptives. That would be a most regrettable situation in that it would be likely to lead to a greater number of Irish women having abortions in Britain. The present figure of 7,000 in this regard is alarming.
When the Minister is replying he might confirm whether contraceptives may be prescribed by the health boards for medical card holders. If this is to be the situation, it should be made clear so that the people concerned would be aware that contraceptives may be prescribed by the health boards and obtained free of charge.
There is a need for more family planning clinics at which young people could be educated in family planning matters. If this Bill will mean the closure of the clinics that exist in some of the universities, it is a backward step. I doubt whether anybody now a days would consider it proper that there should be families of as many as 14 or even up to 20 living in bad conditions. The fathers may be drawing the dole. In such circumstances children would not be getting the opportunities that other families would be likely to have. We must endeavour to educate the young people in matters of family planning. That is why there is a need for proper family planning clinics in all the large centres of population.
There are varying opinions on all sides of the House in regard to this legislation. I am disappointed that the other Member here of the minority, Deputy Briscoe, has not let us hear his views. Perhaps he will rectify this situation and let us know how he considers the Bill will work, particularly as far as the minority are concerned. We in Fine Gael are being allowed a free vote on this occasion. We are a very independent party, especially in matters relating to human rights. However, it is not my intention to vote one way or the other. This is because I do not consider the legislation to be going far enough. If the Minister had introduced a measure that would provide for contraceptives for such people as divorcees and mature people generally, regardless of their marital status, I would have been tempted to vote with the Government. I am not voting against the Bill on the basis that the Minister has gone at least half way on this occasion. We must appreciate that this is a difficult area. There may be Members of Fianna Fáil for whom voting on the Bill will be a problem. However, I trust that they will vote on this occasion and that the fact that so many of them are missing today is not an indication that they will not be here later for the vote. On the previous occasion 27 of them did not vote. They should be here to ensure support for the Minister. It should not be necessary for the press to go so far as to indicate the manner in which people voted on this issue though I expect some of them will give this information. However, the sooner the Bill is voted on the better because it is at least a step in the right direction.
