Kate O'Connell (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Donnelly made a very good point about the framing and wording of these amendments. They are framed in such a way that allows us to be asked how we could be against them. When I returned home last night, as if I had not had enough of this subject after yesterday's proceedings, I thought about the amendment relating to "dignified disposal". The wording of that amendment was carefully designed, as Deputy Donnelly observed, to make it sound as though we were in favour of undignified disposal. We made very clear yesterday that is not the case.

Deputy Tóibín referred to interpretation of an amendment. I am not sure if he meant my interpretation but if so it was not interpretation. I have the text before me in black and green. It is, in my view, an attempt by the anti-choice people to act the victim. On Tuesday, the first day of these proceedings, we spoke about representing those who voted "No". We should remind people what the people who voted "No" voted for. Their vote meant in effect voting "Yes" to people with diagnoses of fatal foetal abnormality travelling abroad and bringing home the remains of their much-wanted children in the boots of their cars. Their vote was against victims of rape and incest, often minors, being able to access termination. They voted to maintain the position where nine women per day would travel abroad and for the continuation of the pain and suffering inflicted by the eighth amendment.

It was also said that some of us were unhappy with the definition because we were not comfortable with it. That is completely inaccurate. I am not happy with it because I believe it is inaccurate and not fully comprehensive. The Minister has assured us that we will work on this together and I have been working on it to come up with appropriate language.

Today, we heard further references to socio-economic factors and the elective nature of the procedure. This is another attempt to make it sound as though "on demand" would see a woman having an abortion one afternoon because she had nothing else to do. The language in this is an attempt to demean women.

There was a reference to information being medically neutral and factual. The text of the amendment is not medically neutral or factual. It was suggested that we could finesse it. The finesse that I would suggest would be to take a big black marker and score through the lot of it.

The only thing anyone is attempting to tamper with here is the bodily autonomy of the women of Ireland, once again. That is what this amendment is designed to do.