As my colleague the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, has done, I too acknowledge the women and families who have had heartbreaking personal circumstances in pregnancy and who have been the motivation behind this Bill. There are, of course, many perspectives involved in the issue of termination of pregnancy services. As legislators, it is important that we facilitate open and frank discussion and consideration of issues. We must respect the input and views of all in this House. Constructive debate is always helpful. I do not need to repeat all of the information the Minister has outlined but I will aim to make some critical points. The Government is committed to increasing access to safe termination of pregnancy services. In this regard, considerable progress has been made. I refer to the comprehensive body of work being undertaken by the national termination of pregnancy service improvement group. Work arising from the independent review of the legislation, the O'Shea review, and the HSE-commissioned review of section 11 of the Act, the Regan review, is being progressed across ten dedicated work streams. Significant service development has taken place since the publication of the reviews. All 19 maternity hospitals now provide termination of pregnancy care, supported by designated clinical leads and co-ordinators. More than 490 community providers are delivering early medical abortion. The national governance structures have been strengthened through the relevant structures and governance group. A national electronic termination of pregnancy dataset has been established to support service improvement and workforce planning. Education and training activity has expanded, with multidisciplinary education, foetal medicine study days and workshops, and the development of patient information leaflets. A programme of work is also under way to provide a suite of national clinical guidelines and patient information booklets. The feedback received directly from clinicians indicates that the service is working well. This is particularly significant if we take account of the fact that this was a new service built from the ground up. While it is acknowledged that a number of women continue to travel abroad for termination services, this figure has significantly reduced from 3,053 in 2017 to approximately 240 in 2023. As the Minister outlined, women travel for a variety of reasons, not all of which are related to fatal foetal abnormality. I acknowledge the motivation for proposing this Bill. Nonetheless, as drafted, it will not achieve its stated objectives and ultimately may prove counterproductive. As the Minister pointed out, the amendment as drafted to remove the mandatory three-day waiting period has the potential to cause problems for existing medical law, but perhaps that is an issue that could be explored further. On the issue of clinical guidelines, the HSE, in consultation with the relevant professional bodies, is the competent authority to develop such guidelines. It has the requisite knowledge and experience. Moreover, this process is already established. A national clinical guidelines programme of work has been agreed between the national women and infants health programme of the HSE and the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. In March of 2021, Professor Keelin O'Donoghue was appointed as clinical lead for guideline development in maternity and gynaecology, responsible for the review update and production of national clinical guidelines in relation to maternity and gynaecological services. It is impossible not to be deeply affected by the stories in the cases where there is a fatal foetal abnormality. However, I must stress that the proposed amendment would not bring clarity to the law. Rather, it has the potential to create ambiguity on which conditions would qualify and could lead to wide variation in its interpretation and application. I am sure that this is not the intention of Deputy Cairns or her party colleagues. Furthermore, it would include genetic conditions that are fatal later in life. This marks a significant policy shift and a huge departure from the commitments given to the Irish people prior to the repeal of the eighth amendment. The proposal to decriminalise medical practitioners would represent a very substantial policy and legal change. A medical practitioner would no longer be subject to criminal sanction under the law even in instances where a termination had been carried out by acting unreasonably or acting unreasonably and in bad faith. Moreover, it would substantially weaken the powers of the committees established to review decisions to refuse terminations under sections 9 and 11 of the 2018 Act. The requirement that the conscientious objection would not override professional obligations in medical emergencies is already effectively and coherently addressed in the 2018 Act. In conclusion, nothing is solved by politicising this very sensitive area. It does not serve one woman and it would not save one child's life. The Minister has indicated her willingness to engage constructively on the issues raised in the debate. We urge the Social Democrats and other Members of this House to take up that offer. By doing so collectively, we can do right by all of the women in Ireland.

Sentiment score: 0.11