Professor Sabaratnam Arulkumaran:

I agree with what Deputy O’Brien is saying. We have to give counselling about the advantages of continuing with the pregnancy and the risk of termination etc. If she makes the decision and she still wants to proceed with the termination of pregnancy, then that should be final. There should not be a mandatory two week period of thinking that she might change her mind. If she says on her own that she needs some time to think about it, that is not mandatory, but that is a different question altogether. Increasing the gestation causes more complications in terms of terminations.

She has to wait in personal agony for two weeks. By and large, we do not recommend that so-called mandatory waiting period.