Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy perhaps needs to think a little. The eight amendment - this has been on the public record for a long time - does not serve the best interests of women or the unborn child a pregnant woman may be carrying. That is my considered view and why, when the eighth amendment was put before the people, the Labour Party, as it does now, stated it was not in the best interests of women. If one looks back at the history of the times when the eighth amendment was brought forward and argued, one reason it has not served women well is that nobody will deny that it was an extremely rushed constitutional amendment. The consequence of that rush is that what was inserted into the Constitution does not serve the best interests of women in my view or that of the Labour Party. From what the Deputy has just said, she appears to wish to rush into a further situation in respect of the eighth amendment-----

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