Dr. Eoghan de Faoite:

I apologise and take that back. Very recently, Professor Fionnuala McAuliffe, who is chairwoman of the public relations committee of the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, stated that doctors do know, when they intervene, that they are perfectly entitled to so do and are covered under Medical Council ethical guidelines to intervene when a woman's life is at risk. That being said, I never stated, in any part of my submission, that I am against legislation or against clarification. I know my own understanding of the Medical Council ethical guidelines but if it is shown, through discussion and debate, that doctors seek further clarity and seek either a legislative footing or further clarification in the form of Medical Council guidelines to allow them to practice medicine and maternal health care, I would not be against that and nor would any pro-life person I know. The problem I have is that any legislation, clarification or even guidelines that are brought forward must also recognise the right to life of the unborn child and must recognise that with that, a doctor does everything he or she possibly can to save the life of the mother, while at the same time recognising that he or she also has a duty of care to the unborn child.

I will conclude on this single point. I acknowledge what was stated recently by the masters of the maternity hospitals during the course of these hearings but I wish to bring members' minds back a little, to the Oireachtas hearings of 2000 and 2001, at which extremely experienced obstetricians, the heads of the institute, testified before Government officials. Each stated the opposite to what the master of Holles Street hospital said during the week, that is, that each knew exactly when to intervene when women's lives were at risk and never put women's lives at risk when they suffer a complication of pregnancy.

In their minds, treatment for things such as cancer in pregnancy, ectopic pregnancies or severe pre-eclampsia, those interventions do not constitute abortion. It is extremely dishonest of the newspapers that had front page headlines yesterday, including the Daily Mail, blazing headlines that 30 abortions are taking place in Irish hospitals every single year, when we do not know the circumstances of those cases. Some of those cases may have been a premature induction of labour where a baby was delivered alive and survived. Therefore, I think we need honest reporting on those facts.