Michael Harty (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Considering that under the maternity strategy, we are struggling to provide anomaly scanning for each pregnancy, will maternity services be given sufficient resources to provide proper assessment and enable informed decisions to be made by mothers and their doctors to provide for lawful terminations? The Government's proposals in this area will require substantial investment. All the issues I have raised will need to be addressed if the eighth amendment is repealed.

In summary, I am in favour of holding a referendum and I will support the repeal of the eighth amendment. Termination of pregnancy should be provided for in cases of substantive dangers to the health and life of the mother and fatal foetal abnormality. As I stated, in cases of rape, the victims should never get to the stage of a developing pregnancy. The critical and most contentious issue is the 12 week termination limit. It is also the issue about which I am most unhappy, although I acknowledge that it is necessary to recognise the position of those who wish to terminate a pregnancy for whatever reason. They should be accommodated in this country, rather than being forced to travel abroad. We must take ownership of this issue and stop exporting it. As unhappy as we may be about abortion, this is the 21st century and we must recognise how medicine and society have developed by introducing legislation that is restrictive but not excessively restrictive.

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