Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will take a minute and a half if that is okay.

Last autumn, Dr. Rhona Mahony addressed the Labour Parliamentary Party in Athy. I spoke to her at length on that occasion. If one speaks to medical professionals, particularly women like Dr. Mahony, who work in large maternity hospitals, it is clear that the eighth amendment does not protect the best interests of mothers or babies as a result of the chill factor it imposes in respect of what medics can do, whether in routine or emergency situations.

Many people have been freshly appalled by the story of Joanne Hayes and the torture she was forced to undergo when, effectively, she was put on trial. Ultimately, that type of situation came about as a result of the climate of the era when the eighth amendment was introduced. I am of the view that the late Dr. Garret FitzGerald, a former Taoiseach, always regretted introducing the eighth amendment.

The social changes which have taken place in Ireland in the intervening years have been very much for the better. However, if we do bring about this change, and I hope that we do, Ireland must be prepared to provide a high quality service of advice and education for young people in schools and for people who have troubled pregnancies. We should remember that it is their choice to bring a baby to full term. It is a choice we must support entirely. Equally, and especially in cases of fatal foetal abnormalities, if they decide to have terminations, that is a choice that we, as a society, must fully support.

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