Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

We are discussing this because very brave women who faced a horrendous, cruel and unacceptable situation had the courage to come forward and tell of their truly tragic circumstances, when they had wanted pregnancies but received a diagnosis that the foetus they were carrying had a condition that was incompatible with life. I repeat, incompatible with life. That is the key phrase which underlines the fact that legislating for terminations in this very particular and tragic situation is not in conflict with the constitutional requirement to uphold the right to life of the unborn because we are talking about a foetus that has a condition that is incompatible with life. Therefore there is no clash. There is a very strong legal argument to support that view that this is compatible with the existing Constitution, and let us remember that if we do not explore the possibility at least of including this in the legislation we are consigning more women every day to continue to go through these cruel and unacceptable circumstances. When this Bill passes, women may still have to bring their dead children back in the boot of a car as some have had to do. We have a moral responsibility to explore every possibility available to us in the context of this legislation to see if we can prevent that from happening. The Minister says we need constitutional certainty and therefore we cannot do it, much as we may sympathise with these women. I reject that argument completely. The Minister for State with responsibility for European Affairs, Deputy Creighton, in a different context, has said that the legislation------