Ciara Conway (Waterford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentations. I would like to ask Dr. Coulter-Smith about the point he raised in regard to the difficulties he and maybe some of his colleagues in his hospital face on the suicide issue.

As I understand it, suicide is still among the top four causes of maternal death. Is that true? If it poses such a high risk, how could we fail to legislate for it? Suicidaility, particularly in a crisis pregnancy, tends to peak in the third month, and an unwanted pregnancy is a relevant risk factor. Risk management requires access to services. If we were to fail to legislate for that issue, we would be limiting access for those women who are suicidal. I have a simple question, which I put to each of the witnesses. Will the legislation save lives?