Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Termination of pregnancy services should be free and I will oppose the amendment. However, it is perfectly legitimate of any Member of the Oireachtas to query and debate which health services should be free. For those of us who believe that termination of pregnancy services should be free, it is incumbent upon us to make the case.

Some of the criticism of the amendment is technically incorrect, in that it excludes sections 10 and 11. According to it, in cases of early pregnancy and fatal foetal abnormality, which are sections 12 and 13, payment would be required and, in the cases of sections 10 and 11, which are risk to the life or health of the mother, payment would not be required.

I would like to speak to the sections that are not exempted by the amendment, starting with section 13 on early pregnancy. If a woman had to pay for medical services and drugs provided in the case of early pregnancy, could that create a financial barrier to accessing health services? It most definitely would. A woman would have to attend a GP, which would cost €50 or €60, pay for drugs - I do not imagine they would be cheap - and then return to a GP, which would cost another €50 or €60. She may have complications or require follow-up. She could end up paying in the realm of hundreds of euro. That potential cost creates a financial barrier to accessing healthcare services for women. The Minister made an important point. The unintended consequence of this is that women who cannot afford several hundred euro can afford to go online-----