Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses. My first question is to all of them but I refer specifically to a reference in the submission by the Pro-Life Campaign to a survey of maternal deaths in the three Dublin maternity hospitals - the Rotunda, Holles Street and the Coombe - from 1980 to 2011, which found there were two maternal deaths by suicide out of a total of 680,000 live births, both of which occurred post partum, after delivery. In that particular timeframe, some 130,000 women travelled to Britain or elsewhere for an abortion. Is it possible, given that we can assume the vast majority of those who travelled were in a crisis pregnancy situation, that they might, if they were unable to access a termination, have become suicidal? I am merely posing the question. There are no statistics or figures available to us to assess the 130,000 women who travelled abroad for terminations in that period.

When the witnesses express their concern that the inclusion of suicidal intent as grounds for termination will open up a more liberal regime, are they effectively saying there should be a referendum to row back on the interpretation of Article 40.3.3° as set out in the X case, or do they see another solution in terms of addressing the outstanding issue whereby the Supreme Court has given its interpretation to that effect? Some of the delegates will argue that the interpretation was based on flawed assessments, that no psychiatric experts were brought into play or whatever. The point, however, is that as the matter stands, in jurisprudence, it is the law that suicidal intent is grounds for the provision of abortion in this State. Are the delegates saying that the only way to address this issue is by way of referendum?