Dr. Peter Boylan:

I have been a practising obstetrician and gynaecologist since 1975. Part of my training was undertaken in London and after I qualified I held an academic post in the United States for four years. Over many years I have been invited to give lectures and perform clinical practice reviews in the United Kingdom, the United States, Europe, Scandinavia, Singapore, Israel, Australia and New Zealand. All of this experience has given me wide opportunity to observe the practice of obstetrics as it relates to the issue under discussion, namely, the termination of pregnancy to save the life of the mother.

Ireland is in a unique position in that there is ready access to termination of pregnancy in the United Kingdom for residents of this State despite it being illegal here. It could be interpreted that the State has implicitly agreed to facilitate this access by way of the constitutional amendments of 1992 which guaranteed the right to access information regarding termination of pregnancy and guaranteed the right to travel to obtain a termination.

The situation in Ireland regarding termination of pregnancy where there is a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother remains unclear. As doctors, we are aware of the Supreme Court judgment in respect of the X case but we are left, in the absence of legislation and regulation, to attempt to interpret that judgment on an ad hoc basis when it comes to termination of pregnancy in order to save the life of the mother. Meanwhile, the Offences against the Person Act 1861 remains on the Statute Book. This is a wholly unsatisfactory and, I believe, unreasonable situation to expect doctors to operate in. It also places the woman in the highly unsatisfactory position whereby doctors caring for her are unsure about whether they may be breaking the law in cases where they believe they must intervene to save her life. For these reasons I welcome the intention to enact legislation to protect life in pregnancy.