Joe Higgins (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

What is the envisaged timescale with regard to the publication of the legislation to make provision for the judgment in the X case? Will it not be necessary to expand this legislation to embrace issues relating to the health of women in view of the evidence given by the clinical director of the National Maternity Hospital in the Coroner's Court in Galway yesterday to the effect that the law of this land actually threatens the lives of women? I refer to the assertion regarding the blanket ban on termination in circumstances where the health of a woman may be seriously compromised before it becomes evident, with certainty, that her life may be lost. Does the Tánaiste accept that a new issue has arisen in this regard and that the forthcoming legislation must embrace it?

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