Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Fine Gael)
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Dr. Lohr stated earlier that abortion is an extremely safe procedure but the earlier in the pregnancy it is performed, the better it is for the woman's physical well-being. I cannot understand how an organisation with more than 40 locations in the UK has not been able to come here and provide me with the two answers I seek. I asked how many abortions had been carried out in BPAS clinics. I am not asking for any personal information. I am trying to give people here a picture of what kind of an organisation or charity Dr. Lohr is involved with. It is horrifying that the CEO of the charity is encouraging gender selection. I said it here a few weeks ago and people were nearly laughing. That a charity in the UK is looking at the selection of genders is something I cannot understand.

I believe very strongly that we trust women. This is something I have also heard members of Dr. Lohr's organisation saying. If one trusts women, one must also trust them with full information about abortion including the fact that the baby's heart starts to beat at just 21 days in the womb and the fact that one in five pregnancies in England and Wales ends in abortion. The committee is tasked with looking at the impact of the eighth amendment in Ireland. This means undertaking to ensure that the public is fully informed of the development of a baby in the womb and how the eighth amendment is responsible for saving tens of thousands of lives in Ireland. If we are really going to trust women, does it mean we must run a nationwide education programme on all the good things the eighth amendment has done, the remarkable development of an unborn child and the fact that in England and Wales, over 190,000 babies lose their lives to abortion every year?