Dr. Catherine Conlon:

If we are being asked questions, we need to have fairness in our capacity to respond. What we are proposing here is a model of care where a person can attend to consult a professional doctor to discuss their stance on their pregnancy, with one option being termination but other options obviously being available in the Irish health service. We are not saying the person must decide "Yes" or "No" at that one consultation. We are saying that person should at least have the option to come back once with as long a period between the first consultation and the second consultation as is possible. I argue we are taking a stance here that states the decision to have an abortion is one that should be carefully supported by a health service with at least two fully funded consultations. The architecture around that is a very well-developed pregnancy counselling service that I trust as a professional service that counsels women and is person-led, which all of the counselling services, which I have looked at in detail, are. I trust our healthcare professionals, counsellors and doctors. I trust women to make decisions. I would prefer a model of care that allows women to come back at least twice before they make a decision. My position is that the review seeks a model of care that supports sound decision-making for women and an accessible service. That is the way we can reduce the instance of abortions that are not in the best interests of people.