Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will also be brief, particularly as we discussed this matter on Committee Stage. We have a difference of opinion on it so I will restate my view. To be clear, this Bill is enabling legislation that provides for access to abortion and for termination of pregnancy here in our country in a way that has not been the case up to now. It will allow a woman to access termination of pregnancy in a safe manner in her own community, where possible, and free of charge. The key provisions of the Bill are exactly the same as that of the draft general scheme approved by Government and published prior to the referendum and the updated scheme made public in July. In that sense, there are no surprises in terms of what the Title to the Bill is doing, or, indeed, what the Bill is endeavouring to do.

On the reference to ending the life of the foetus, we had this debate on Committee Stage. The committee would have received a letter from the doctors drawing up the clinical guidelines to say that, regardless of the debate in the House, it is a phrase they find clinically useful because that is how they define the issue clinically. This is a Bill about access to abortion, of that there is no doubt. People can lay out all the reasons they want in respect of pejorative terms but the legal advice available to me is that it is better to align the wording in the Bill with that contained in the Constitution. Given that this is an area which has been subject to so much court adjudication and challenge over so many decades, I, for one, do not intend to take any risk or do anything that would heighten the chance of success of any challenge.

These are technical, legal titles and they reflect accurately what this Bill is endeavouring to do. I appreciate Members' intentions in trying to change that wording but to do so would not be in line with the legal requirements and advice. Therefore, I do not propose to accept the amendments.

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