Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It makes me proud to listen to Deputy Chambers because what she has just said, as a young woman, represents where we have come to in Ireland. It has been a long and hard struggle to get here but we are now at a point where women's choices have to be respected, where women are equal and can no longer be told in a paternalistic way what we can and cannot do.

Deputy Tóibín spoke earlier about people on the "pro-life" - in inverted commas - side being vilified. I consider myself as pro-life as anyone else. However, he actually vilified the two Ministers who were in the Chamber at the time. He made some very direct accusations about what, in his view, this legislation is about. We all need to respect each other in this debate. I certainly respect the fact that people have different views to mine but they cannot be allowed to diminish in any way the humanity and the values of people who have a different view, including the Ministers concerned.

I spoke about the fact that I am proud that we have got to this day today. We had more or less a year of public debate on sexual and reproductive rights for women in this country. Earlier today I co-chaired the launch of The Power of Choice - Reproductive Rights and the Demographic Transition, an annual report on the state of the world's population. During the discussions today we heard statistics on African countries and on Tanzania in particular where women are still dying because they do not have access to contraception or maternal care in childbirth. This is the world in which we live. This document is all about ensuring that we give women throughout the world rights and choice, which is something in which I fundamentally believe.

When Deputy Tóibín spoke earlier about abortion he said that it is about killing. I remember fighting for the right to access contraception in Ireland and having the same arguments put to me in the late 1970s and early 1980s. At that time, we were vilified for seeking access to contraception.

There is nobody on that side of the argument who is stating that contraception is terrible and that we should not have it. This is because they and the country have moved on. We held a referendum. We had been campaigning since 1983. I campaigned then against the inclusion of the amendment because it was never appropriate to deal with this issue via the Constitution. In the referendum, the people decided to remove it from the Constitution. Technically, Deputy Tóibín is right when he says that what we voted on in the referendum did not specifically include the legislation we are debating. The very reason for publishing the legislation was that the public would know the intentions of the Government and the Oireachtas following the decision of the people, who voted "Yes". That is democracy. The Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment did not recommend that disability be a ground for abortion. That is reflected in the legislation. We need to nail that piece of misinformation which has been uttered in the House tonight. It is not a ground in this Bill.

I congratulate everybody involved in the Together For Yes campaign, which was extremely invigorating and very participative. It was dominated by people from all sections of the community who, in many cases, do not belong to political parties. However, there were also those of us who are in political parties. I am very proud of my party. It has held a consistent position on this issue to the effect that the eighth amendment needed to be taken out of the Constitution. I am very proud to have played my part in ensuring that we got a "Yes" vote. This was for the people. They were given the facts. We held debates, first at the Citizens' Assembly, then at the Oireachtas committee and then in the context of the referendum campaign. People had the opportunity to know exactly for what they were voting. That is why we have the legislation before us.

As a democrat, I believe everybody has the right to table amendments and express his or her views. I agree, however, that people should not filibuster. It is not the way to deal effectively with legislation. Whether a person agrees or disagrees with legislation, he or she can put forward amendments if he or she wants to change it. However, he or she should not unnecessarily delay the debate by using repetitive phrases and so on. I urge those who may wish to table amendments to speak to those amendments but not to delay the business of the House.

The Minister for Health stated that he is negotiating with GPs in respect of their contract and that would include ensuring that they will be in a position to play their part appropriately in the context of the legislation. When he is replying, I hope the Minister will provide some information regarding progress on that matter. My information, from the GPs to whom I have spoken, is that the majority of them are quite willing and able to participate. They need the necessary supports. The Bill states that GPs can conscientiously object. In other words, they will not have to provide the service but, if that is the case, they will be obliged to refer patients to other GPs. That is appropriate. It is the right of the woman who comes to the GP to have a service that is legally available in her country. She should be entitled to that. While the conscientious objection clause is included in the Bill, it is appropriate that there must be a referral to somebody else.

The Minister also stated that clinical guidelines are being drawn up for medical practices, particularly where the referral moves on to the hospital setting where it is not appropriate for the GP to be involved because of the number of weeks of gestation, etc. Will the Minister give us information on those clinical guidelines and progress? I know the general intention is that this should be ready to go by 1 January. Both of those measures will need to be well in place and properly organised by then.

The Minister also spoke about communicating with the general public and having a communications strategy. We need to ensure that is available and that it is clear because the general public needs to know exactly what is available and what can be done in this situation.

Various people have said that while the woman is never to be criminalised, as I understand the legislation, there are certain offences. They are very upfront in the Bill, I think they are in section 5 and others have suggested that they may be further on in the Bill. It is somewhat off-putting when reading the Bill to see that straight after the Title, the definitions, regulations and expenses, the next section is offences. It might be appropriate to have the more positive elements of further up in the Bill.

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