I thank my colleague, Deputy Holly Cairns, for the work she has done on this legislation. When I grew up in Ireland in the eighties and nineties, abortion was absolutely not allowed. It was not spoken about and was portrayed as something only certain types of women did, and there was a massive stigma to it. When I went to college there was no availability of information for people about safe and accessible abortion services here or abroad. Everything was hush-hush. If you got pregnant and there was a crisis pregnancy you were left to figure it out. If you found yourself in that situation and tried to find someone who might help you, it was almost impossible to find that information. Throughout the course of my career, I have worked with women who have been in crisis pregnancies. I worked with a 15-year-old girl who got pregnant and needed to have a termination. She had to travel for that termination. I worked with a woman who had a fatal foetal abnormality and had to make the heartbreaking decision to terminate her much-wanted pregnancy. It absolutely broke her heart. Abortion is one of those topics that is so divisive. It is uncomfortable to talk about it, and I think that comes from an era where women's rights were just put to the side. Now, it is 2026 and we need to have a situation where women should be treated with respect, dignity and trust. Irish legislation needs to trust women to know that the decision they are making is the correct decision. We need to protect them, and we also need to protect the medical workers who will give that care to the women. This legislation seeks to ensure that women who receive a devastating diagnosis of fatal foetal abnormality no longer have to travel for care. It removes the three-day mandatory waiting period and provides more certainty about abortion in cases where a woman's health or life is at risk. It also clarifies the law when it comes to conscientious objection and removes the criminalisation of medics. As uncomfortable as some people may find this legislation and topic, it is imperative that we allow this legislation to move to Committee Stage to scrutinise it and make amendments and improvements that help women access the care they need.

Sentiment score: 0.05