Mr. Gerry Edwards:

With regard to the fatal foetal anomaly Bills that were presented and defeated, we were heartbroken. We believed that there was a legal avenue available. The advice the Government received was based on the predication that life meant born alive rather than capable of sustaining life and I still believe that had that question been put to the Supreme Court, it would have viewed it sympathetically. However, that did not get anywhere and we are where we are today. Hopefully, we can move this on. It is unfortunate that many people will have suffered in the intervening period without that having been explored to its fullest when the opportunity presented.

Gestational limits just cannot be applied when it comes to both foetal and maternal health. They are completely unworkable and totally arbitrary. The Citizens' Assembly did not get to discuss severe foetal anomalies. They recognised that there could not be a time limit for fatal foetal anomaly, but there was no discussion about severe anomalies. When they were presented with the various options - not at all, up to 12 weeks, 22 weeks or without gestational limit - in respect of each of the votes they cast, questions were asked about where they came from. They came from the advisory group working with Ms Justice Laffoy; they did not come from the citizens themselves. They were, therefore, tied into voting along those lines. Our view is that there cannot be gestational limits. That will perpetuate the situation of driving people who can travel, from a health point of view, a financial point of view and a legal status point of view, out of the country. That would create a situation whereby we would be by design making women in Ireland dependent on another country for health care. If that is done, then we are not an independent country. If we are going to describe ourselves as an independent country, then we need to look after all the people in Ireland here. That is what independence is about; it is not just about the bits one likes.

The comments on late term abortions have been made for some time and not just during the current committee debates. Comments about botched abortions, whether they are in Canada, Australia and England, and babies being born alive and left to die alone by parents and doctors in corners of hospital rooms, as though they have to move equipment out of the corner to put the baby in to die, are absolutely outrageous. I cannot understand the humanity behind coming up with that type of a grotesque scenario. We were aware that late term abortions generally happen because of foetal or maternal health. If the mother's health is in danger, the doctors will do everything they can to save the baby without compromising the mother, otherwise we are talking about situations where it is because of foetal health. There is always the possibility that a baby may be born alive and there is a medical procedure the mother can take, which will stop the baby's heart. That is to prevent distress to the baby if he or she is alive when delivered. Some women choose that and people in the anti-abortion campaign criticise those women for making that difficult decision while other women choose not to do this. That can result in a live birth but that is not a botched abortion. An expected outcome from a premature induced labour is that the baby may die and women choose that because they may wish to have the opportunity to meet their baby. It gives them great comfort to do so and those babies, like any other baby, are given all the comfort and care they require to help them to pass away peacefully. They may do that in their mother's arms. It is quite repugnant for anybody to try to portray bereaved parents and the doctors who care for them in that particular manner.

We fully understand that people will have different views about abortion services. That is perfectly natural, but it is important, both here and in the national debate, that we stick to facts and honesty and keep the grotesquery away from this kind of debate. It is too serious. I will leave it at that, if that is okay.