Dr. Meabh Ní Bhuinneáin:

The short answer here today is that it is not about the personal stance on the ethical issue. We in Irish obstetrics are facing a position of uncertainty in knowing where we stand. As most of my 27-year career was spent working in Ireland, with a hiatus in Australia, in recent times I have not had to make that personal decision. I would individualise it, however, for the care of the individual mother. As in Dr. Boylan's statement, the mother may determine before she has a test that she is not going to have a termination under any circumstance but might change her mind. I believe that clinicians, as we evolve and if we were working in a different legal environment, might start in a position where we would not engage in termination of pregnancy under any circumstances short of the protection of life in pregnancy. Over time, however, I suspect that the individual nuance of the cases will provide many grey areas for us to have to use ethical decision making to face the moral distress that is involved.