Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I wish to speak to the principle of the amendment, but I will be brief. I approached this amendment from a compassionate and humane point of view. The amendment proposed seeks to ensure that in most cases, not even in all cases, doctors would ensure that the unborn child is not subjected to pain. It is after the gestational age of the foetus is 20 weeks or more. This amendment does not prohibit abortion where the baby can feel pain, it merely requires the administration of pain relief. I look forward to hearing from the Minister in respect of the medical guidelines on this.

See this speech in context