Dr. Brendan O'Shea:

We are here as representatives of the college and have been asked to brief the committee on issues relating to the health of women. We are not here to offer solutions but we can refer, with some degree of knowledge and expertise, to practices in adjoining health systems. We are particularly sensitive to risks to the health of a woman and this is paramount in the mind of any general practitioner or practice nurse in the course of a consultation. The risk becomes higher the later an abortion is carried out but in other systems medical abortions within 12 weeks are carried out on a system scale. From a purely medical perspective, and purely with respect to the health of the woman, this reduces the medical risk.