“No-Platforming rape survivors will establish a troubling precedent,” say Cross Party Oireachtas Members
A number of Oireachtas members from both the Dáil and Seanad have expressed their concerns around the increasing inability of some public businesses to facilitate presentations by groups associated with a pro-life ethos.
The Oireachtas members have agreed the following Joint Statement:
“Irrespective of where one stands on the substantive issues with respect to the Eighth Amendment, the freedom to publicly associate in respectful debate must not be undermined.
It is our considered view therefore that engaging in tactics purposively designed to shut down any side of this complex debate are unwarranted and deeply worrying.
As legislators we have the privilege of speaking in a protected forum, where we can share our views no matter how diverse those views may be.
We believe the equivalent rights ought to be protected for members of the public who may belong to groups or organisations with opposing viewpoints.
In light of these principles, we are concerned to witness the forced cancellation of some public meetings.
We specifically refer to meetings organised to facilitate survivors of rape who sought to offer their own particular perspective on the stigma and taboos associated with continuing with a pregnancy following such a traumatic event.
Given that we are about to enter a prolonged period of public debate on the Eighth Amendment it is vital that we do not allow any precedents to be established which may make respectful dialogue between differing viewpoints more difficult to achieve.”