Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I understood the purpose of these hearings was that those of us with no expertise in this area could be informed in order that we would be able to make an informed decision when we eventually come to legislate. That is why we are all here as legislators. The Supreme Court in the X case held that the correct test was that the termination of pregnancy was permissible if it was established as a matter of probability that there was a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother and that this risk could only be averted by the termination of her pregnancy.

The expert group said, regarding the application of the test, that although medical decisions may be difficult in particular cases, the complexities will not arise from the words of the test but from diagnostic and treatment issues, and that implementing the decision does not, therefore, require another definition of the test. Why do the witnesses think there is a need to separate physical illness and self-destruction? Should it not be left to medical professionals to determine what the real and substantial risk is? On the creation of a separate head on self-destruction, do the witnesses feel this will create a rebuttable presumption in this regard?