Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 12 October 2017

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution

Crisis Pregnancy and Primary Care: Irish College of General Practitioners

2:00 pm

Photo of Hildegarde NaughtonHildegarde Naughton (Galway West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for coming before the committee. It is very important that we hear from clinicians who are at the coal face and dealing with this issue. This may have already been answered but in terms of the eighth amendment raising difficult ethical issues for practitioners and general practitioner holding conflicting opinions or beliefs on the availability of abortion, do the witnesses think a lot of training would be needed for general practitioners? The witnesses may have answered that question but perhaps they could look at the bigger picture of increased numbers and GP training and so on.

Dr. Rhona Mahony, master of the National Maternity Hospital, Holles Street, and Professor Fergal Malone, master of the Rotunda Hospital, gave evidence to the committee yesterday. Dr. Mahony discussed the importance of sex education. Dr. O'Shea mentioned the importance of contraception and it being a key area and the myth about the pill. Are there other high-priority areas that are raised in general practices across the country, even on an anecdotal level, that the witnesses feel need to be targeted in schools?

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