Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Members will have the chance to table amendments to the legislation. The three-day waiting period and two doctor visits into which women will be forced will cause genuine problems, particularly in flashpoint areas such as parts of rural Ireland and poorer areas of inner city Dublin with a far higher ratio of patients to GPs than the rest of the country.

An interesting article in The Irish Timestoday addressed the question of conscientious objection. The writer pointed out that doctors may object to providing the services not because they have a problem with dealing with terminations but because they have a problem with a work payment situation. Under FEMPI, doctors' income was cut by 25% and that has not been reversed. Numerous problems must be dealt with but my fear is that having repealed the eighth and gained access to termination the women of this country will encounter real problems accessing GPs to deliver that service, particularly in more vulnerable areas such as isolated parts of rural Ireland or poorer parts of inner city Dublin.

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