Lisa Chambers (Mayo, Fianna Fail)
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I thank Dr. Lohr for her presentation and for coming before the committee to give evidence and answer questions.

Could Dr. Lohr please respond to the concern that there is a risk abortion will be used as a form of contraception? Could she please paint a picture of the reasons for different age groups of women obtaining abortion, for example, among women younger than 20, aged between 20 and 30 and those over 40? Are there different reasons in those age categories?

I was struck by Dr. Lohr's figures, that 71% of early abortions provided for Irish women are surgical compared with 28% for women resident in England and Wales. That was because the Irish women had to travel back and forth in one day. The medical abortion, the tablet, cannot be offered to them. Do women arrive at the clinic seeking a medical abortion, thinking that is what they will have but then hear that they cannot have that service but will have to have a surgical abortion?

It appears from Dr. Lohr's presentation that there are more risks associated with surgical abortions than with medical, for example, uterine rupture, bleeding and other complications. Would it be fair to say surgical abortions are more risky and that Irish women do not have the choice when they go to the UK but have to have more surgical than medical abortions?