Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Under the section I want to raise concerns about the absence of gestational limits. Many people are disturbed by this and it is not generally known among the public. I referred earlier to ethical concerns raised at the hearings of this committee, principally by Dr. Sam Coulter Smyth on behalf of his colleagues. He is the Master of one of the busiest maternity hospitals in Europe. He said:

First, if a patient at twenty-five weeks gestation is deemed sufficiently suicidal to require a termination of pregnancy by one or more psychiatric colleagues, the obstetrician tasked with dealing with this situation is faced with an enormous ethical dilemma. Delivery of this baby at twenty-five weeks gestation could lead to the death of the child from extreme prematurity, could lead to a child with cerebral palsy, or with significant developmental issues for the future. This outcome would be entirely iatrogenic and the responsibility of those clinicians who agreed to be involved in the process. This is a source of serious concern for myself and my colleagues.

Given the source of those comments we cannot continue to ignore them and that is what is happening. It is not sufficient to get the response that "you cannot limit a constitutional right" because that is the line coming out. It is wholly unacceptable that there would not be a gestational time limit in section 9 cases. If it is not possible to do anything at this point there should, as a minimum, be a clear commitment to arranging a constitutional referendum on this specific issue and to be held with the other referenda in October and prior to the commencement of this legislation. There is a way of doing it within a matter of a few months if there is a constitutional impediment. I think I speak for the majority in saying that I find the absence of a gestational time limit abhorrent.