Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Witness after witness who attended the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution was very clear with us about the difficulties or impossibility of grading risk. It is different, depending on a person's circumstances, the number of children the woman already has and the person's state of health. Doctors, including Professor Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, Dr. Peter Boylan and Dr. Rhona Mahony, were very clear when they told the committee that it was very difficult, if not impossible, to grade risk in this context. We have referred a lot to the chilling effect of the eighth amendment on practice. The purpose of this legislation has to be-----

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