Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I wish to ask the delegates from the World Health Organization for their views on two very important matters. The preamble to the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989 cites the Declaration of the Rights of the Child of 1959. It states the child "by reason of his physical and mental immaturity, needs special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth". Does the delegates' presentation, in which they talk about how incredibly safe abortion is without once acknowledging that it is anything but safe for the unborn child, not make a nonsense of what is stated in the preamble?

Late-term abortions happen in places such as Britain and Canada where quite a number of botched abortions have taken place in recent years and where children were alive after the procedure. What is the delegates' view on what should be done in that case? What do they think happens and what do they think should be done to provide pain relief for unborn children, if they have prescriptions to give us in that regard? I notice how unprescriptive they were in talking about gestational limits. It was remarkable compared to how prescriptive they were on the need to allow abortion wherever one was wanted. It makes me wonder whether they have ever observed an abortion taking place to see what is involved.