Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome our guests. Head 11 of the Bill removes freedom of information from the ambit of the proposed Bill. Nobody proposes that individuals' names and addresses be mentioned in any official record keeping yet head 11 goes much further than that. Bearing in mind the seriousness of what this Bill proposes, and the political and cultural struggle with matters of transparency, do the witnesses believe the breadth of what is proposed in head 11 is an unwelcome aspect of the Bill? It also seeks for the law to provide a register of pro-life psychiatrists so that these persons would not be able to make abortion more difficult. In the interests of equality, and bearing in mind the various procedural abuses recorded in the UK by pro-choice psychiatrists, should a register of pro-choice psychiatrists also be provided to ensure that access to abortion will not be widened in a way that would be contrary to the spirit and letter of the law?

I have some questions for Professor Binchy. Is there a definite constitutional obligation to legislate for every higher court decision? Has the Oireachtas acted unconstitutionally for the past 20 years by not legislating for abortion on grounds of suicide? Should the law affect section 21.1 of the Medical Council guidelines which require that due regard be given to clinical research in the area of psychiatry? A person who is not suffering from a mental disorder as defined by the Mental Health Act 2001 cannot be forced to undergo any treatment against his or her will. In light of the X case, which attested that termination of pregnancy should be the only means of averting the risk to the life of a mother, does it follow that abortion will become the only means available if the woman refuses all other interventions?