John Crown (Independent) | Oireachtas source

We have already established that when I stand up, the microphone does not work, so please do not see any disrespect if I ask my questions from a sitting position. I first want to thank the witnesses and, not only that, but also to commend them. They have made me a little prouder to be a doctor today. There was great clarity, honesty and conviction in what they said, and I consider this is critically important in trying to address this issue.

We must seem as though we are perseverating on this. Extrapolating from the arithmetic advanced by Dr. Coulter Smith, and taking account of the fact that a disproportionately large number of complex pregnancies go to the referral centres, I am guessing that nationally, we probably have something of the order of 30 to 40 terminations of pregnancy which are necessary and which are now carried out to save the life of the mother. The witnesses can correct me if I am wrong.

I would also like the witnesses to clarify the following point.

I do not mean to hint at any case or require anyone to appear to stand in judgment over particular colleagues, but I would like the witnesses to state whether or not they are of the opinion that there have been maternal deaths which were needless and which would have been specifically prevented had there been greater clarity in the legal framework. Have there been cases in which terminations of pregnancy for life-saving indications were not offered because doctors felt, perhaps in good faith, they were not adequately covered legally or might have been breaking the law if they performed them?

The distinction between a termination necessary to save the life of the mother as opposed to her health is something that has been raised both here and in the Dáil. It may be medically naive but my sense is that there are unlikely to be conditions which threaten one's health which do not also, even to some small extent, threaten one's life. As such, it is probably not a great issue. We will not go into medical detail on it, but is it necessary in performing a life-saving termination of pregnancy to kill the foetus in utero or can the pregnancy be delivered to give the life-saving indication the woman needs? This relates to an objection some others have raised.

Can Dr. McCaffrey clarify something she mentioned in good faith earlier about the hospital in the UK where nearly the entire cohort of anaesthesiologists refused to anaesthetise a termination patient? I am sure she was not referring to an emergency.