Michelle Mulherin (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The knowledge and standards in professions are built over years of research and practice so it is not just a leap of faith. However, we have no road map because there is no medical evidence to support an idea that one in 500,000 should receive a termination based on the fact that she is suicidal and that this is the only way to avert that risk of suicide. I would be comforted if there was reference to an objective standard. If the area of psychiatry moves along and these things can be pointed to and supported by empirical medical evidence at a certain juncture, who can argue with that? That is why there is room for the likes of myself to argue about it; the roadmap is not there. At that point, what informs the decision of the psychiatrists? Is it their personal beliefs, or what?