Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank Professor O'Keane for her presentation. We meet again; we soldiered during the debate in advance of the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill in 2013.

One could argue that life is never black and white; it is grey and messy. Human relationships are complex and all of that. The Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act exists because of a very blunt instrument in the middle of the Constitution, that is, the eighth amendment. During the debates that resulted in the passage of the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill, some outlandish claims were made to the effect that there would be queues of women claiming to be suicidal in order to try to procure abortions. Some of the insinuations in that debate were quite hurtful.

The Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act introduced monitoring systems. In 2015, a total of 14 terminations were carried out under the Act because of a real and substantial risk to the life of the woman due to physical illness. There were nine emergency terminations carried out due to an immediate risk to the life of the woman because of physical illness and there were three because of suicidal intent. Would the professor agree that because only three terminations were carried out in 2015 on foot of suicidal intent, it is clear that many distressed women are still going abroad in very agitated states? From a clinical point of view, where does that leave psychiatrists, psychologists, GPs and clinicians in general in terms of allowing a patient with her files under her arm and in a very distressed state to go an airport and travel abroad to have a termination carried out in another jurisdiction? Where does that leave Professor O'Keane and her colleagues in terms of their ability to care for a patient, either in advance or on her return? Does it put them in a very difficult position in that they cannot counsel or advise patients that a termination may resolve their suicidal intent?