Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As Members know, I was a strong pro-life Deputy prior to the referendum and I remain a strong pro-life Deputy. I have spoken on this at every opportunity but I have always tried to be as dignified and thoughtful as possible. The people spoke clearly and emphatically last May. It took me a while to accept that decision but I have accepted it. I cannot support this amendment. If a young girl or woman is in trouble, perhaps because she is in an abusive relationship or feels she cannot continue the pregnancy, I could not support her not having access to the termination of the pregnancy, if that is what she wants. It is not what I would want but it is what she wants. We have a two-tier health system and we are trying to move away from that with Sláintecare. I am afraid that if we do not support people we would probably end up with more illegal abortions and more people accessing abortion pills online down the road, which is what we are trying to avoid.

However, I have a question for the Minister. It was reported in the media recently that a GP will be paid approximately €450 to provide abortion services for the termination of pregnancy and aftercare. Subsequent reports in the newspapers show that a GP is paid, and I accept this could be wrong, approximately €250 for the care of a pregnant woman for nine months of pregnancy and her aftercare. Can the Minister confirm these figures? If they are correct, why is there such a variance in cost between providing the termination of a pregnancy and providing the care of a mother for nine months and her aftercare?

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