Ms Heidi Good:

On behalf of the Methodist Church, I thank the Chairman and other esteemed Members of the Oireachtas for giving me this opportunity to share with the joint committee our views on abortion and hopes for the upcoming legislation.

We recognise this is a difficult, complex and contentious issue with various shades of opinion. Our submission to the committee strongly states abortion on demand is wrong. I want to commence this morning by reiterating that view. We do not support abortion on demand, nor for economic or social reasons.

The Methodist Church, after a considerable time spent in consultation, takes the view that termination should be available to a mother in four circumstances. First, where the mother's life is at risk; second, where there is risk of grave risk of serious injury to her physical or mental health; third, in cases of gross abnormality where it is incapable of survival; finally, in cases of rape or incest.

In this complex and diverse issue, we strongly urge the Oireachtas to introduce legislation following on from the Supreme Court judgment in the X case. This is a difficult call to make. We recognise that the foetus is far more than an appendage of the mother’s body and that, as it goes through the developing stages of gestation, it should progressively be accorded rights culminating with full respect as an individual on birth. However, the mother is an individual accorded with all the rights that her fellow men and women in this State are accorded. She has the right to life and the right to life-saving procedures. We believe that includes the right to a termination when her life is at risk.

Then there is the question of her mental health. Among the varied physical medical reasons which may cause grave complications for a mother and necessitate a termination, we believe the mental welfare of the mother must be taken into consideration and included in the forthcoming legislation. If her medical team deem that suicide is a real concern, then we believe it can be treated. However, if after appropriate and thorough psychiatric assessment suicide remains a real possibility, we believe they must be allowed to consider termination as a part of that treatment.

No law should attempt to legislate for a specific form of morality, church or faith but rather set the minimum standards for the social good. The rule of law should allow maximum individual freedom and only limit that freedom where there is a clear and unmistakable social necessity. In essence, we believe the Legislature should legislate for the public good and not to suit us or any particular church or faith. We strongly urge the Oireachtas to legislate to allow for the medical profession to make those difficult but life-saving decisions when a mother’s life is in danger without fear of repercussions and to give peace of mind to women in Ireland that they can be assured that their medical team can take all necessary steps to save her life.

We oppose abortion on demand but we believe the Christian gospel promotes a just, loving and caring society with emphasis on the dignity and worth of each individual. Faced with the difficult choices to be made by the Oireachtas, we believe legislating for the four categories I referred to earlier is the best approach.