Stephen Donnelly (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----to buy pills and self-administer without medical supervision or safety. For those reasons, termination of early pregnancy under section 13 must be free because we are trying to provide this service to everyone.

The next section that is not exempted relates to fatal foetal abnormalities. Perhaps this was a drafting error.

I would find it unconscionable that any pregnant woman faced with a fatal foetal abnormality at the end of all of the medical care that she needs could be faced with a bill. Let us think about this. One is talking about GP fees, hospital visits, surgical fees, specialist fees, and after-care because a woman could be in hospitals for days or weeks. Were this amendment to be passed we would have a situation in Ireland where a pregnant woman faced with the tragedy of a fatal foetal abnormality could be faced with a massive bill of not just thousands of euro but tens of thousands of euro. That, to me, would be utterly unconscionable. Maybe it was not meant in the drafting but, as this amendment is tabled, that is what it would do.

I spoke to the Minister about the following during Second Stage and there are amendments later so I will not go into the details now. It would be a perverse situation in our country for the termination of pregnancy services would be free but contraception to reduce crisis pregnancy and other maternity services not to be free. I have tabled amendments, some of which have been ruled out of order, to discuss the issue that all contraception should be free. Indeed, there is highly effective longer-acting contraception that can cost hundreds of euro which, again, is another barrier. That cost should be removed. Although Dr. Noel Browne brought in a groundbreaking policy called the mother and child scheme, and he was pursued after his political career and destroyed by the Catholic Church for doing so, all of maternity care is not free. For example, there are some drugs for nausea and there are costs that can be incurred by pregnant women that we will talk about later. In terms of the amendment leading to the racking up of potential costs of hundreds of euro during early pregnancy and charging anyone for any medical care for fatal foetal abnormality, both of those would be wrong. It is for those reasons that I believe the amendment should be opposed.