It's Varadkar's turn to step into the abortion quicksand

It was a significant statement from the Health Minister, but his timing - just before Christmas, with no obvious reason to grasp the abortion nettle - seemed odd.

But Leo knew something which few others knew. That somewhere in the Irish country, another story was about to emerge, with a pregnant woman at the centre of it.

It's like quicksand - treacherous and inescapable. Despite all its mightiest efforts, Ireland just cannot extricate itself from the endless, bottomless moral morass created by any invocation of the abortion word.

For decades now, it's proved to be the impossible dilemma, a tangled Gordian knot which successive governments have failed to unravel. Neither legislation nor referenda has reconciled the paradox whereby the messy, complicated business of life meets the adamantine absoluteness of law.

And as has happened so many times before, there is a truly tragic and heart-breaking reason why the issue of abortion has reappeared. A clinically dead pregnant woman is being kept alive in a hospital outside Dublin. Her grieving parents wish to turn off the life-support, but the hospital authorities are afraid to comply for fear of being in breach of the eighth amendment.

Once more the political ground has yawned to reveal quicksand. So far, due to respect for the family, the discussions inside and outside the Dail have been cautious.

Yesterday, Fianna Fail's Dara Calleary raised the matter. He asked Joan Burton if the Government had any notion of re-examining the existing legislation. But mindful of the tragedy, he was at pains to keep the discussion from descending into a row. "This is a most appalling situation for the woman, her baby and her family," he said. "Will the Tanaiste and the House join me in asking those on either side of this debate to remember that there is a family at the centre of this and that whatever discussion and debate we have on this case in the next few days should put dignity at the heart of it?" he suggested.

The Tanaiste was in agreement. "Speaking as a mother and a woman, I believe there is a huge amount of common ground in relation to this debate, which is sometimes drowned out by the ultra-noises from both sides of what at times can be a very extreme debate. These issues are not easy," she concurred.

There was an air of authority around Joan as she spoke. It's a rare thing to have a woman in charge of a parliamentary discussion of a matter pertaining to her gender. All too often during the never-ending dissections of abortion legislation, the Dail chamber is stuffed with men offering opinions on the intricacies of the female reproductive system.

The Tanaiste continued. "However, notwithstanding the enormous difficulties, on all sides of the House there is an unspoken agreement among people in the centre ground to respect life and to ensure that the maximum and best attention is available to women who are pregnant, while respecting the right of choice and the right of women to seek the best possible outcomes in respect of their health and their lives. Obviously, that also involves the life of any baby."

A short while later, Leo was again addressing the issue of legislation while attending an event with HSE personnel. Again, the sensitivities of the current case were uppermost in the minister's mind. He confirmed he had known about the sad situation when he spoke in the Dail two days earlier.

"I was aware that the case was developing," he said. "I'm in office five months, and we've had the Miss Y case, we've this very difficult tragic case ongoing now, and we're up before the European courts and international body about our laws and fatal foetal abnormalities. So I've had to think about this a lot."

But what can Leo do? The Government would sooner hold a referendum on Irish Water than take the plunge and hold a plebiscite on repealing the eighth amendment and convulse the country one more time. That's the trouble with stepping into the abortion quicksand. It's messy and unpredictable. Just like life, nothing like law.