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SURVIVORS OF SYMPHYSIOTOMY have offered a mixed reaction to the news that the Government will accept an opposition bill raising the statute of limitations, and allowing survivors to take civil cases against the State.
The government will this evening accept a bill from Sinn Féin which will raise the statute of limitations for survivors, giving them one year to lodge legal action over the surgical procedure that was practised for several decades.
Symphysiotomy is a procedure where the pelvic hinge is deliberately severed, and was carried out between 1942 and the late 1980s – purportedly to facilitate childbirth.
However, the practice had been long since abandoned in other jurisdictions and left many women incontinent, in chronic pain, and in some cases disabled. In most cases the procedure was unnecessary; the procedure was often carried out after the child had already been delivered.
Last night the Minister for Health, James Reilly, confirmed that the government would accept the legislation, but outlined what he said were some flaws in the Bill that would need to be addressed at later stages of the legislative process.
The Survivors of Symphysiotomy group offered what it said was a ‘guarded welcome’ to the news that the government would allow the Sinn Féin proposals to pass the first step on the road to becoming law.
Group chairwoman Marie O’Connor said the news was “a modest victory for our members”, but said it was a victory “that needs to be built on”.
She took issue with Reilly’s claims that the Bill had flaws, saying it had been carefully modelled on similar legislation in 2000 which raised the statute of limitations for survivors of abuse in residential institutions.
“We reject the indication that further Government action and, by implication, further processing of the Bill should await the publication of the final Walsh report,” she said.
The SoS group has rejected the draft version of that report, commissioned by the Department of Health, as a ‘whitewash’ – and argues that its findings have been trumped by the Supreme Court ruling which could clear the way for future cases.
However, another group representing survivors, Patient Focus, said it was more optimistic about the prospect of a redress scheme, which its members prefer over the prospect of civil cases.
Patient advocate Caitriona Molloy said Reilly’s Dáil speech included a commitment to resolve the situation “as quickly as possible, in an expeditious manner” – which, when combined with his criticisms of the SF bill, suggested that a redress scheme could be pursued instead.
“I think people need to have a choice to do what they want to do,” Molloy told TheJournal.ie. “The problem with going through the courts for the women is that they need to get medical reports to prove negligence, and people can still defend the cases too.
It would be “a lengthy process for any of these elderly women, and I think if you read between the lines of what the minister was saying last night, he said the legislation was flawed for the fact that it didn’t think it would meet the women’s needs. How else would they do that?”
Molloy said a redress scheme, which would be quicker to operate and less cumbersome for survivors to engage with, was the “most respectful” way to address their problems.
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Horrific bout the soldiers being shot and my heart goes to their families, but the Americans do it every day, in fact as we speak they are killing innocent people in the name of stopping terrorism, who will stop them?
Innocent of what? I doubt the US would shoot a child for going to school!
They’ll bomb the feck out of them anyway!
Is this some sort of attempt at reverse psychology ?
Muslim virgins are similar to Christian angels, they don’t actually engage.
What is this obsession with virgins? Is it that they know there will be no point of reference to show them up as being bad in bed?
He wants to be a martyr. Has his eye on all those virgins in heaven!
Probably, or it could be that he doesn’t want to spend the rest of his life in solitary confinement in a military high security prison. Remember Gary Gilmore
Turns out the proper translation is grapes not virgins.
Ha let him have his wish. I wonder as his lungs collapse ans his brain dies will he realise this religious stuff is crap as he fades to eternal darkness no light.
Well John you have upset a lot of prospective suicide bombers. The grapes of wrath eh
I dont think the translation is grapes but its not virgins. Its actually maidens & it says something about their hair as well & rivers of wine.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not anti American in anyway, more anti war!
Wow!!
OMG!
(the G is interchangeable, depending on your views)
Seriously, this man needs to be kept alive for as long as possible.
The only Hell I belive in is in the mind of the living.
He just wants out, thinks there’s some reward coming his way, believes it’s right to destroy life in the name of his creator of life.
He should sit in a box and think about these things for the remainder of his existence.
That is the only thing he fears.
(apologies for the omg bit on such a sensitive subject)
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