Thomas Pringle (Donegal South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

People have told me that 95% of abortions in England take place on the basis of suicide, which is clearly wrong. The legislation in England refers to a risk to the physical or mental health of a pregnant woman, and there is no mention of suicide. Irish people are being told such things by the pro-life side every day of the week, which is an example of emotional framing in this argument. We have also heard that this legislation will open the floodgates to abortion on demand, with every woman at risk of abortion across the country because of abortion factories opening. That is the type of emotional framing that the pro-life side has put into the campaign and we must stand up against it in resistance. We must legislate for what is already the law of the land.

The Irish people have rejected the change of the suicide clause on two occasions, with the last in 2002. The Irish people are way ahead of the pro-life campaign in the argument, and they are way ahead of the Members in the House who argue against this legislation. We must support section 9 of the Bill and I wish we could move to the vote and get it out of the way, as many other important arguments must be debated tonight as well.

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