Ms Breda O'Brien:

The late, great Garret FitzGerald was once alleged to have said: "That's all very well in practice, but will it work in theory?" Whether he said it or not, I am really proud of having found a situation where that applies. What we have at the moment is wonderful practice, which means that abortions are not carried out on the grounds of suicide but genuine, life-saving treatments are carried out. That is the practice. What is being proposed is to change the theory, or at least to enshrine it into legislation, which is somewhat different. It is a very important step. I could turn it around to the committee and say that if they think this legislation will never need to be used, why are they legislating for it?

The floodgates argument is not the argument that I would make, even though I do allow for human nature and change in cultural norms. I do take all of that seriously. The key argument for me is whether this will help or harm women, and whether this will help or harm the unborn child. Sadly, and I say this as somebody whose family has been affected by suicide, suicide is a terrifying reality but it remains a possibility. I am one of the lucky ones where the person who was actively suicidal is alive. However, there is an absolute certainty that if one is carried out on the grounds of legislation that the committee is not even entirely sure should be there, the child will die.