Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It is not possible to respond to all of the points made, but the issues arising are important in the framing of this legislation. The idea that we cannot question or find shortcomings in a Supreme Court judgment is clearly wrong. I respect the legal brain of my good friend, the Minister for Justice and Equality, Deputy Alan Shatter. He has extensive experience of analysing judgments, but others also have experience in this area and their opinions vary. That is the nature of the law. It is a question of interpretations. Judges and courts interpret decisions of the Legislature. The late Supreme Court judge Brian Walsh who was one of Ireland's most eminent constitutional jurists stated shortly after the judgment in the X case that the eighth amendment:

confers no immunity for taking life and its stated objective is the preservation of and respect for life. It is perfectly consonant with the idea of safeguarding of the mother's life without intentional and direct intervention to terminate the life of the foetus. The claim that it admits of direct termination has never been fully argued. In the X case it was conceded. There was no legitimus contradictor to argue against such a construction and therefore the court's decision can only bind the particular case as it was based on a conceded and unargued construction. It is well established that neither a constitutional provision nor even a statutory provision can be construed on the basis of a concession if it were to be binding in rem.

I would have liked to have had the opportunity to speak to the substance of some of the amendments. I have tried to propose a clinical care path as an alternative. Nobody in this Chamber denies that a pregnant woman can be suicidal. I have deduced from some Members' contributions that what others and I have said has been misinterpreted. I tabled my amendments to reflect the medical reality, to which psychiatrists have repeatedly attested, that abortion is not a treatment for suicidal ideation. The Minister can scoff at certain treatments such as dialectical behaviour therapy, but these are recognised forms of therapy. If he has other suggestions, I urge him to propose an alternative amendment to set out a legitimate clinical care path that could provide meaningful and evidence based care for women who are suicidal in order to protect them and their babies.

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