Dr. Karena Hanley:

There are consequences for every action in life and there will always be a certain number of women who regret their decision and it will always be part of our role to support and help them. I am conscious that this debate and media discussion about abortion must be very difficult for women who have difficulty conceiving and my heart goes out to them. An important point the Deputy raised prompts me to highlight that the role of a general practitioner must always be to provide non-directional counselling. In the context of the Deputy's point, it is very important that a general practitioner is not in any way directional in the advice he or she gives to a woman but must always support the woman's own decision.