Patricia Casey - Positions On Social Issues

Positions On Social Issues

Casey is a patron and co-founder of the Iona Institute, a think tank which promotes a Catholic point of view. Casey is known for her opposition to divorce, advising the Irish government against holding a referendum to legalise divorce in 1995. She also maintains that "the sense of loss children feel when parents separate is greater than when a parent dies". She does not, however, disagree with divorce in the case of a violent or abusive spouse. Casey also opposes abortion surrogate pregnancy, anonymous donor in vitro fertilisation, non-traditional family units, adoption by gay parents, and same-sex marriage. She is a proponent of heterosexual adoption. Casey has testified before the Irish Government, at the British House of Commons, and in Irish legal cases on a number of these issues, in particular suicide and deliberate self-harm. She also writes a regular opinion column for the Irish Independent newspaper and in the past has contributed to the Sunday Business Post and to the letters page of the Irish Times, as well as appearing on national television and radio.