Broke Party Ranks On Abortion
Doyle achieved early party notoriety when in 1983 he was one of eight Fine Gael TDs to defy the party and vote against the Fine Gael–Labour Party coalition's proposed wording to the Pro-life constitutional amendment on abortion. Whereas the government's wording included a negative prohibition, namely that nothing in the constitution should be interpreted as granting a right to abortion, Doyle, along with Alice Glenn and other colleagues endorsed the Fianna Fáil alternative wording that granted a "right to life to the unborn, with due regard to the equal right of the mother". Because of the controversial nature of the issue, and the fact that Fine Gael itself was split on the issue, he was not sacked from the party for breaking the party whip.
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