Dr. Peadar O'Grady:

I will try to focus on the procedure's being open to abuse if it is left to the will of the pregnant woman. I hope I am not being unfair to the person who asked this question, but that is precisely the view of Doctors For Choice Ireland - that it is women to whom we should leave the final decision, having given all the advice and looked at all the possibilities and options. The final decision on whether to have an abortion is most safely left in the hands of a woman, and I do not consider that abuse; I consider it best practice.

I absolutely agree that a prior history of mental health problems and a history of violence, particularly sexual violence, are very important factors, and in many of the debates that have taken place about the connection between mental health and abortion, it has often been overlooked that women who suffer from mental health problems and violence are more likely to be in a situation in which they consider having an abortion. The connection is not with abortion; it is with the previous history. Deputy Durkan is correct in that, and it is the pro-choice lobby that has drawn attention to it.

The most recent studies, a report by the American Psychological Association and a review done by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, have clearly stated there is no evidence of abortion causing mental health problems. There is controversy around this and, as I noted earlier, we are very conscious of a subgroup of women who have a negative response to an abortion. This very often occurs for the two reasons I mentioned - namely, the women feel coerced into having an abortion, or they strongly object to abortion from an ethical point of view but feel coerced into having an abortion. It is common sense that this subgroup may experience an increase in mental health problems after having an abortion. It is definitely a subgroup to which we should pay attention.

Speaking live on the "Morning Ireland" programme, Dr. David Fergusson, a New Zealand researcher, who was cited by the anti-choice, pro-life groups, blatantly contradicted the interpretation of his research and put Professor Casey right on it, when he stated he did not deal-----