Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

The example the witness gave is actually a typical situation. We had a presentation yesterday from Dr. Abigail Aiken about the use of abortion pills and the studies she has done on woman. The example was given of Sandra, who is 38 and has three children. A lot of people think it is women who have never had a child who tend to have abortions. The example the witness gave is typical. Two thirds of women who used abortion pills have children already and are in their 30s. Are the witnesses familiar with the study that was mentioned yesterday? They mentioned the use of abortion pills but there has been an update on that figure. A study by the University of Kent estimated that 3,000 women contact two sites so the figure is probably much higher than one thinks. It could be five women a day.

I want to ask the witnesses about the survey of doctors' attitudes that they mentioned in their presentation. They say 10% of GPs believe abortion should never be allowed, which is probably similar to the figure among the general population. They say 51% believe it should be available to all women and 25% believe it should be allowed in some circumstances.