Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I do not care whether the Deputy trusts me or not, he should trust women. I hear a lot about human rights and I have some breaking news. Women's rights are human rights and we have been violating them in this country for about 35 years and the people have said "No more", including in County Kerry thankfully, and we will now move ahead and legislate.

Deputy Kelleher is entirely right and he is best placed to speak on this because of the work he did on this in the Oireachtas committee. The 12 weeks proposal was debated the length and breadth of this country and the people voted on it. The issue of disability was considered at length and I gave assurances and not one word has changed from the general scheme that was published in March and the Bill, as published, in relation to disability.

This is a case of saying, "Let them deny it." It is a case of trying to make the Minister vote against putting a clause in the Bill to protect people with a disability, or trying to make Fianna Fáil, Sinn Féin, the Labour, Party Fine Gael or whoever do so, but it will not work. The Deputy said I should talk to doctors. I did talk to doctors and I talked to the very top doctor, the Chief Medical Officer in the country, who says that this amendment would effectively render the 12 week provision in the Bill inoperable. Perhaps that is what the Deputy would like to do but it is not what the people voted to do.

The greatest protector of a pregnancy is not Deputy Danny Healy-Rae, it is a pregnant woman. Women protect their pregnancies day in, day out and they will continue to do so long after the eighth amendment has been repealed. This would make the legislation inoperable. Perhaps that is the intention or perhaps it is not but it is the reality. It cannot be accepted and we cannot continue to drag up the same issues that were debated the length and breadth of the country. The people have spoken and I have no intention of accepting this amendment.

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