Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will preface my first question by saying that a reply to a freedom of information request from the UK Ministry for health recently identified that between 1992 and 2010, no Irish women availed of an abortion under that section which deals with saving the life of the mother. That abortion is not a treatment for suicide is the clear, unambiguous evidence we have been given at these hearings. Dr. O'Keane conceded this point. To be fair to her, she said that it was for an unwanted pregnancy rather than a treatment for suicide. Abortion can be a contributory factor in suicidal ideation in women who have had an abortion. Many women have committed suicide in these circumstances. What assurances can the doctors give that this can be avoided if they certify a termination? I refer, in other words, to the law of unintended consequences.

We heard evidence with regard to the assessment of patients that psychiatrists, by the nature of the profession, will err on the side of caution when assessing patients. Dr. O'Keane stated that she would believe a woman if she told her she was suicidal. On the other hand, we have heard from women hurt by abortion. Four or five women attended the committee last Thursday who had had abortions in Britain. Two of them said they were advised to seek an abortion on the grounds of being suicidal, even though they were not suicidal. They were subsequently certified by people in Britain in the same profession as the doctors present.

In the United States, there has been considerable liberalisation of abortion with regard to mental health and suicidality. I refer to Dr. Bernard Nathanson's book Aborting Americ. He states that the attack had to be made in the weakest area, the psychiatric indication, which was inexact and immeasurable, yet sufficiently threatening. He said that once a breach had been made in that area, once a few precedent-setting cases had been raised, they could then be poured through in unlimited number. He stated that the proposed threat of suicide was the logical battering ram. It was just a question of finding a squad of compliant psychiatrists.

Given that that is the experience elsewhere, what engages us is how can we avoid that or how can we get any assurance that a similar thing will not happen here to corrupt the profession in this regard.

The late Dr. Anthony Clare, who was pro-choice but became pro-life in the 2002 referendum, clearly stated that that was his experience in other jurisdictions as well - that the situation of mental health and suicidality were areas that led to liberal abortion regimes in those countries.