Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 4 October 2017
Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution
Eighth Amendment of the Constitution: Constitutional Issues Arising from the Citizens Assembly Recommendations
1:30 pm
Kate O'Connell (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source
I am not finished. Would the witness agree that a born woman's right is at any time superior to that of the unborn child? I am sure the witness is also familiar with the PP case. Does he think the court decided incorrectly and struck the wrong balance on the clinically brain-dead pregnant woman's rights? I am conscious that this woman has a family who might be listening to this today so I will have to be sensitive. How does the witness feel about the rights of the clinically brain-dead woman who was pregnant over the rights of the child? She was approximately 16 weeks pregnant. Does he think the court should have forced life support for this woman to be continued against her partner's, parents' and family's wishes until such time as the foetus could be surgically extracted from her body?
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