Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the witnesses and their contributions. We are trying to confine ourselves to the legislation before us in terms of the heads and what we will have to adjudicate on later. Dr. O'Grady said abortion should not be confined to the locations prescribed in the legislation and should be available elsewhere too. I want to get some clarity on that. While we are talking about the legislation, we are also obliged to act within Article 40.3.3° of the Constitution which states that there is an obligation to vindicate the life of the child. I presume one would need to carry out these procedures in a place where, if there is a viable foetus, that life would be saved, where possible and practicable. I presume that is only in a number of hospitals that would have all the neonatal services and facilities available, and all that flows from that. I would like some clarity on that.

Some women are suicidal in pregnancy and some are suicidal because they are pregnant. Is there a differentiation in how people would assess that? Many women in crisis pregnancy travel abroad to have an abortion and that happens day in day out in this State. There is no point in our denying this. Regarding the proposed panel system of two psychiatrists and an obstetrician, how would the witnesses see a woman presenting herself? Would they see it in terms of assessing her suicidality or assessing it and treating it and looking at options as opposed to ticking the box and referring her on to somewhere else? Would they see it as a doctor-patient relationship whereby they would assess, provide therapy and treatments if that was more suitable than a termination as requested by the woman, but which may not be suitable in terms of the treatment of her underlying condition?

In the context of the broader issue regarding obstetricians not being involved in the panel system, clearly an obstetrician would be the person who would have to carry out the procedure late in pregnancy at the very least. I assume there would have to be some discussion on how that multidisciplinary approach would work.