Dr. Ruth Fletcher:

Absolutely. There are probably two key points in respect of thinking about how on request models can accommodate different people's beliefs around the value of prenatal life. One would be where people have a type of gradualist approach, that in the early stages it is not as significant in value as it might be in the later stages. Adopting an on request model because it makes it more likely that people would access abortion at earlier stages means, in effect, one is achieving that goal of gradualist protection. Another point is that the lack of access in the prohibition does not have the effect of stopping abortions, so one is not achieving protection of prenatal life when one prohibits it in that way.

The two work as either side of a coin. People who do not take a gradualist perspective, whose perspective may be about the symbolic or potential value of foetal life and it would not necessarily vary for them but again it would have less weight than the sentient woman, will be accommodated by a system which balances the different interests at issue by allowing earlier access and fewer obstacles to access in the earlier stages. I would encourage the committee to think about whether they want to stick with the 12 week limitation, given the variety that is available in other jurisdictions and given the size of the vote in the Citizens' Assembly, which was 44% in favour versus 48% against. If the Citizens' Assembly got to the point of thinking about how to remove barriers to access and thinking about how to apply an on-request model in various ways, with 44% supporting abortion until 22 weeks, that is a lesson for us in terms of the impact of evidence and public education on support for those models.