Billy Kelleher (Cork North Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

People did know but disability is not covered in the Bill because it is not possible to have termination after 12 weeks for any reasons other than serious risk to the health or life of the woman, and fatal foetal abnormality. They are the grounds. Why would we introduce into the legislation proposals that would identify circumstances in which terminations should not be granted when the only circumstances in which they can be granted after 12 weeks involve a threat to the health and life of the woman and fatal foetal abnormality?

We have to be honest with ourselves here. Tests have been identified with the potential to identify disability in advance of the 12th week. That is a fact. However, we have said that a woman can have a termination without reason, or rather for her own reasons, up to 12 weeks. It is disingenuous, therefore, to suggest that the issue of disability was not, first and foremost, central to the debate; it was. I recall distinctly many people bringing it to the fore, rightly from their perspective. It was a robust debate and the matter has been decided emphatically with the Irish people saying that up to 12 weeks, unrestricted termination should be available under medical supervision. To introduce race and disability is against the wishes of the Irish people as expressed in the referendum in May. We can talk about this and look at why it was proposed. Those proposals were included in the heads of the Bill and adjudicated on by the Irish people. This was central. It was not put in covertly. It was the kernel of the debate that termination would be available without restriction up to 12 weeks.

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