Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 15 November 2017

Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution

Socioeconomic Context: Dr. Caitriona Henchion and Mr. Niall Behan, Irish Family Planning Association

1:30 pm

Mr. Niall Behan:

There is a misconception sometimes that the women who come to our services are teenagers. The vast majority of them, roughly 75%, are between the ages of 24 and 34. Around rape, we have very few clients coming to us following a rape. The number is very small. We work very closely with other agencies such as Women's Aid if it is a domestic violence issue, or the Rape Crisis Centres. We also provide post-abortion support. If women who do travel for an abortion then come back to us, we can provide post-abortion counselling. That counselling is usually about the context in which the unintended pregnancy happened. It can be about a rape, a relationship breakdown, whatever the reason that led to the pregnancy being a crisis. Dr. Henchion and our team of doctors provide the post-abortion medical checks that go alongside the counselling.