Marie Sherlock (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chair. I welcome Ms O'Shea and Dr. Conlon. We owe them both an enormous debt of gratitude for the work. We especially owe Ms O'Shea for the really comprehensive report she has produced. The insight provided into abortion care in Ireland is incredible.

There is a proposal to waive the three-day waiting period or statutory period of reflection. It seems like an Irish solution to an Irish problem in terms of how Ms O'Shea crafted her recommendation. Her report very clearly details the medical, psychological and logistical difficulties associated with the three-day wait. I want to understand the thinking behind this right to waive the statutory period of reflection. How does Ms O'Shea think it will operate in practice? What kind of procedures will have to be formed around it? Do we not already have the concept of informed consent? Is it really necessary to retain the three-day waiting period when we already have informed consent for every other serious medical procedure? When someone has open-heart surgery or a leg amputated there must be informed consent, so why can we not have that for the procedure we are talking about here, namely, termination care?