Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome Mr. Thompson here today. In his talk he spoke a lot about aborting babies because they had been diagnosed with a particular condition. I am very concerned that we would think it is okay to abort babies because they are going to be disabled. As Mr. Thompson has said, there is no way for a doctor to know how long these babies will live. Many families have been in contact with me to say that they have treasured the time that they got to spend with their babies even though it was not for a long period. Other families have told me that they were told that their babies would not live very long only to discover that the diagnosis was incorrect and the babies were born safely and enjoying life.

It is also worrying that in England and Wales something like Down's syndrome is seen as a reason to end a baby's life. We have all become familiar with the terrible statistics that nine out of every ten babies are aborted in these countries when there is a diagnosis of Down's syndrome. There is no reason the situation would be any different if abortion was introduced in Ireland. Does Mr. Thompson think that a diagnosis of Down's syndrome is something that should deprive a baby of his or her right to be born?