Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I fully accept the bona fides of the Minister when he says the Department has attempted to remove the chilling effect in balancing this legislation. It has not achieved that objective, however, and I do not agree that the committee's suggestions were adhered to. I accept the Minister's point about the legislation giving a protection to medical practitioners or providers who operate in good faith within the law and who have a reasonable opinion, but that is just a defence. It still leaves them open to the possibility of a malicious prosecution, for example, or an allegation against them by people who want to be devious with this legislation.

Abortion should be fully decriminalised because there is ample medical regulation and other legislation in place to deal with people who break the law. The Minister said that people did not vote for abortion in all circumstances, which is fully accepted. The amendment we are putting forward does not alter that situation, nor does it say that abortion should not be regulated. Rather, it says there should not be a specified criminal sanction in the legislation. It does not throw out all the other stuff.

I take issue with the points made by Deputy Donnelly, who said the criminalisation factor is included in order that terminations will not be carried out on the grounds of disability. That is not the case and the law does not provide for terminations on the grounds of disability. We are talking about a criminal sanction for breach of the law, where someone who breaks the law is still open to sanction. In the circumstances the Minister outlined, such as a forced or coerced abortion, without the specific criminalisation provision in the legislation the medical practitioner involved would still be open to prosecution for a criminal offence such as assault causing serious harm or whatever, not to mention being open to severe disciplinary proceedings and possibly being disbarred from being a medical practitioner because he or she carried out a medical procedure against the law. A specific criminal sanction is not needed, therefore. Perhaps the voters in Wicklow are highly astute and have read every document.