Professor Sjef Gevers:

I cannot give an opinion about the state of abortion care because I am not familiar with it. What I can see is the legal context. Compared with other countries in Europe, the provision in Ireland is very restrictive. The European Convention on Human Rights and the court decisions that have been taken over the course of the years show that the European court has been very reluctant to go into the issue of whether the choice of the woman or the protection of the unborn life should prevail. Even so, there is a growing consensus in Europe that there should be more openness and possibility for a woman to have an abortion in certain circumstances. We also have discussion of socioeconomic reasons, which the Deputy mentioned. Maybe Ireland will move towards a more moderate regime in the future. I cannot say.