Alex White (Dublin South, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It simply is not sustainable to suggest that.

What we think ourselves is one matter but we have to act within the limits of the Constitution. Are people claiming that it was the intention of the people in

Article 40.3.3^oto confine the protection given to the unborn to the foetus above 23 or 24 weeks? One cannot say that in the teeth of what the people decided in 1983, much as one would like to. The Oireachtas cannot do that because it would be flying in the face of what the people decided.

Deputy Halligan and others have given accounts of the dreadful experiences sustained by women who found they had a fatal foetal abnormality during the course of a pregnancy. No one disagrees with any of the points made. The strength of the case cannot be denied and it is a point I made on Committee Stage. I am familiar with it as any man can be and as it has been related to me. I was not at the meeting to which Deputy Shortall referred but I have met a number of women who have experienced this, some of them quite close to me. It is not a case of Members on this side of the House not understanding the human experience people have had. We all feel moved by it.

However, can it be dealt with in this legislation? I have to say, hand on heart, that it cannot be done in this legislation. Deputy Shortall said if it is not possible, then it is not good enough. What does that mean?

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