Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 1:

In page 3, between lines 14 and 15, to insert the following:“Amendment of section 4 of Principal Act

2. Section 4(1) of the Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following after paragraph (l):

“(m) counsellors, that is to say, a person or organisation who engages in, and holds himself, herself or itself out as having experience or expertise to engage in, the activity of giving information, advice and counselling (including giving information, advice and counselling to pregnant women in relation to crisis pregnancies),

(n) psychotherapists, that is to say, a person or organisation who engages in, and holds himself, herself or itself out as having experience or expertise to engage in, the activity of giving information, advice, counselling, and psychotherapy (including giving information, advice and counselling to pregnant women in relation to crisis pregnancies).”.”.

I tabled this amendment in the interest of highlighting the problem at crisis pregnancy agencies and in the hope that progress would be made. I absolutely welcome the Minister's announcement. It was never more clear to me how necessary it was than when I received the lovely documentation advising me that in fact my information was incorrect and apparently someone somewhere has designated "scientific" evidence of the link between breast cancers and abortion. It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the work done by the journalists and the media in this area, in particular Ellen Coyne who has worked tirelessly to highlight this. On the basis of the announcement made by the Minister, I will withdraw the amendment. We look forward to the regulation of misinformation and its eradication.

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