Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent)
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This is a gruesome amendment. At present the Bill requires that two doctors examine a pregnant woman before approving an abortion due to the risk to life or health. If it was a medical consultation this would not happen. We are now saying that a person can have an abortion having spoken to two doctors over the phone. If that was my wife, my daughter or another woman, I would want her to have a proper consultation. We previously made the point that there was not enough backup for the people making the decisions. The decision to have an abortion is a very big one. For me, making the decision having spoken to two consultants over the phone, perhaps without an examination of the woman involved, is gruesome. There is no way I will be supporting this amendment.