Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly(Image: PA Wire/PA Images)

'Lower the age of consent to avoid silly plan, Minister'

'If we want to make contraception free to 16-year-olds, then let’s make the age of consent 16 too.'

22 Sep 2024, 11:04 by Larissa Nolan · Irish Mirror

Today’s "progressives" are so painfully predictable.

Give them the stupidest idea and they dutifully look it up in their little liberal bible and decide: "Yes, we think this is great." They’re stuck in a hive mind, blinded by ideology, confused in their thinking and contradicting themselves constantly.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said this week he wants to make contraception free to underage girls in the upcoming budget. The age of consent in Ireland is 17, but Donnelly wants to cover the cost for 16-year-olds.

So let’s get this straight - if approved, it means on the one hand, the law says it’s illegal to have sex when you’re 16, but on the other, the state says: we’ll fund it for you. It’s incongruent, it’s confusing, it’s unnecessary and it’s leaving young girls open to exploitation.

Liberals are always preaching about consent, but now, they’ve forgotten about all that to support free birth control for girls who are not legally old enough to say Yes to sex. Suddenly, the Health Minister is "brave" and getting a standing ovation from all the simpering ninnies in politics and media.

Men, of course, are terrified to question it, as God Forbid an adult male voices a dissenting view on this wimmin’s stuff. Now that would be brave.

I’m convinced Donnelly put it out there just to create debate - it won’t get past the legal and medical "legitimate concerns" he said has been raised about it. Why else did he announce the notion? No-one was asking for it. Doctors say there isn’t a rush of 16-year-olds flooding clinics looking for it; there’s no campaign calling for it.

Also, there is unfinished work to be done in this important area first. The rollout of free contraception is not complete - there’s a whole other cohort who don’t have it, women aged 35 plus. There’s far more of them and they need it more. Why not expand it to cover them first? Or is this older age group not a priority?

Who will be eligible for free contraception from September and how to apply(Image: Getty Images)

It’s worth noting that girls aged 16 can obtain contraception and abortion already, without need for parental support. However, it's not bankrolled, due to the pertinent fact they are under the legal age. So it’s not like sexually-active teens are currently prevented from accessing the means to prevent pregnancy - which would be another matter entirely.

But do you want your taxes to fund contraception for underage children to have sex? I don’t.

It’s wrong-headed. I say so as a strong supporter of free contraception for all; I’ve been pushing for it since the Repeal referendum in 2018. Because you cannot offer women a free abortion without also providing them with the most modern means to prevent the need for one.

The only shame is it took four years to get going, and it still does not cover all women over the age of consent.

Strike for Repeal protester Sylvia Dab from Blanchardstown on O'Connell Bridge, Dublin during a demonstration where the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution was called to be repealed(Image: Gareth Chaney Collins)

None of the supposed progressives who fell over themselves to welcome Donnelly’s idea stated the obvious: it would make far more sense to reduce the age of consent to 16 instead.

That way, the state could provide the service without it contradicting the law.

We’re one of the few countries in Europe that has the age of consent set this high. It’s 16 for our nearest neighbours in Britain, which has the most similar culture to us. The Germans and Italians have it set at 14, and the French at 15. Only Ireland, Cyprus, Turkey and Vatican City have it set at 17 or above.

If the Minister is suggesting paying for it at the younger age, it indicates tacit Government support to lower it. So instead of funding something against our own laws, why not just square it off?

If we want to make contraception free to 16-year-olds, let’s make the age of consent 16 too.

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