Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left) | Oireachtas source

We do not need any further report, although the drip-feed in the media indicates that the information we will get will be illuminating. The guidelines reiterate that the purpose of the Act introduced last year was to confirm the general prohibition on abortion, but that was not the case. It was to legislate for the lawful circumstances in which a woman was entitled to have an abortion in this country, when her life was in danger. Tragically, the Y case proved that a woman who had met the criteria was unable to access her lawful right to have an abortion here because of the inadequacies of the legislation introduced by the Government. We have doctors and the medical profession operating on the basis of a criminal prohibition, which has a chilling effect. We have excessive scrutiny by the medical profession, which adds to the mental anguish experienced. Interestingly, the UN Human Rights Committee pinpointed the circumstances of Ms Y when it referred to the discriminatory impact of the legislation on people who did not have a right to travel. When we add this and the inefficiencies of the legislation to the fact that 160,000 Irish women have had to travel for abortions in recent decades, does the Minister believe that in the interests of decency, respect and the recognition of the abortion reality, they should be able to have that treatment at home rather than being forced to travel?

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