Jillian van Turnhout (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will not get into a debate on Supreme Court judgments. My role as a legislator is to uphold the Constitution. I refer to head 4. Many legal debates occur about the X case but I am very conscious that it was about a 14 year old girl. That is what we are discussing. As Mrs. Justice Catherine McGuinness noted, it is about that human life. In regard to head 4, to exclude suicidality is to change the law. As Mr. Callanan stated, the people voted in referendums in 1992 and 2002. In Article 40.3.3° no distinction is made. The application of whatever is the threat to the life of the mother needs to be the same in all cases. Should we merge heads 2 and 4 in order to ensure the application of the law is the same?

Adding to Deputy Conway's question, I refer to head 19 and the scope of the offence, which is extremely broad. It deals with the criminalisation of any act that has the intent to destroy human life. We need to be clearer and more precise about the activities that would be covered and on this I ask for the opinion of the witnesses.