Professor Fionnuala McAuliffe:

Deputy Terence Flanagan asked for a definition of the word "termination". I provided such a definition in my submission this morning and it is also in the written submission. Termination refers to circumstances where there is no chance of survival after birth, such as when a pregnancy is ended before the foetus is viable. Pre-term delivery is delivery of a baby after viability.

Senator Bradford asked if we had ever seen a case of a woman whose only treatment was termination of pregnancy. We have not seen a case of a woman who was suicidal in pregnancy and the only treatment to avert the risk of life was termination of pregnancy. However, that is not to say that there could not be even one such case. We work very hard in obstetrics to save mothers' lives and even one death is an absolute tragedy. To say we have not seen one case does not mean we will not see one case.