Peter Mathews (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me time to contribute to this debate. The safety and well-being of mothers, babies and families - of every citizen of this country - have been very well served by the medical professions for as long as I remember. That is because every doctor, upon qualifying, makes the hippocratic oath, the solemn pledge which underpins the wonderful care and service they provide to society and to individuals, regardless of gender or age. Hippocrates was born somewhere between 470 BC and 460 BC and did not belong to any religion. Christianity had not yet even arrived. The taking of the hippocratic oath by all newly qualified medical practitioners is confirmation of the seriousness of their position in society and the commitment they make to the care of patients entrusted to them during their lifetime. Doctors need constant reminding of the seriousness of that pledge and it should ideally be displayed in all medical institutions.

The text of the hippocratic oath is as follows:

I swear in the presence of the Almighty and before my family, my teachers and my peers that according to my ability and judgment I will keep this Oath and Stipulation:

To reckon all who have taught me this art equally dear to me as my parents and in the same spirit and dedication to impart a knowledge of the art of medicine to others. I will continue with diligence to keep abreast of advances in medicine. I will treat without exception all who seek my ministrations, so long as the treatment of others is not compromised thereby, and I will seek the counsel of particularly skilled physicians where indicated for the benefit of my patient.

I will follow that method of treatment which according to my ability and judgment, I consider for the benefit of my patient and abstain from whatever is harmful or mischievous. I will neither prescribe nor administer a lethal dose of medicine to any patient even if asked nor counsel any such thing nor perform act or omission with direct intent deliberately to end a human life. I will maintain the utmost respect for every human life from fertilisation to natural death and reject abortion that deliberately takes a unique human life.

With purity, holiness and beneficence I will pass my life and practice my art. Except for the prudent correction of an imminent danger, I will neither treat any patient nor carry out any research on any human being without the valid informed consent of the subject or the appropriate legal protector thereof, understanding that research must have as its purpose the furtherance of the health of that individual. Into whatever patient setting I enter, I will go for the benefit of the sick and will abstain from every voluntary act of mischief or corruption and further from the seduction of any patient.

Whatever in connection with my professional practice or not in connection with it I may see or hear in the lives of my patients which ought not be spoken abroad I will not divulge, reckoning that all such should be kept secret.

While I continue to keep this Oath unviolated may it be granted to me to enjoy life and the practice of the art and science of medicine with the blessing of the Almighty and respected by my peers and society, but should I trespass and violate this Oath, may the reverse be my lot.

This is the profound and solemn oath which doctors take upon themselves. The Bill before us asks doctors in this country to break that oath. Section 9(1), which deals with the risk of loss of life from suicide, states:

(1) It shall be lawful to carry out a medical procedure in respect of a pregnant woman in accordance with this section in the course of which, or as a result of which, an unborn human life is ended where--(a) the medical procedure is carried out by an obstetrician at an appropriate institution, and

(b) subject to section 19, three medical practitioners, having examined the pregnant woman, have jointly certified in good faith that--

(i) there is a real and substantial risk of loss of the woman's life by way of suicide, and

(ii) in their reasonable opinion, that risk can only be averted by carrying out that medical procedure.

This presents a dilemma for medical practitioners, as those of us who attended the hearings of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Health and Children already know. No Government Minister attended those hearings in May to any significant extent, although they may have done in January.

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