Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I reiterate the point that no woman should be criminalised with regard to abortion. It is important to remember that most abortions are related to socio-economic issues and we should focus on resolving those issues. It was stated that abortion was safe, but the Bill itself states that abortion is the ending of a life. Safety and the ending of a life do not equal each other. This is one of the most radical amendments for which one could provide because it will, by default, allow for abortion by failing to disincentivise it in a whole range of other circumstances. Part of the argument before the referendum was that if one takes the right to life out of the Constitution, the issue becomes fluid with regard to where it ends up. This amendment is confirmation of that.