Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

That is helpful. We have a great deal of evidence, and we know ourselves, that nobody wants women or practitioners being criminalised for this. Access is a key issue. It has been a thread today. Even for people who might have reservations and who would say they are not in favour of unlimited access to abortion, the best way of guaranteeing access is through early availability for the first trimester. Perhaps the witness would elaborate on that point. I believe Senator Mullen was a little unfair to her earlier in the comments about her point, which was, in effect, that this would respect the view of some citizens on prenatal life. My interpretation of what the witness meant, although I might be wrong, was that people would view access to abortion on request up to 12 weeks as dealing with what at that stage, as anybody who has had a miscarriage knows, is like a heavy period. It is a little blood clotting and perhaps a little cramping. It is not the same as a fully grown woman. People recognise that there is a difference between that up to the first trimester and a foetus on the point of viability. By distinguishing in that way and making abortion available on request in the early term one is accommodating that. Perhaps the witness would expand on that.