Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

There is a value in collecting information for statistical purposes to provide better healthcare and I will support amendment No. 42 for that reason.

I have not contributed extensively to this debate. Everyone has a right to his or her opinion but this is difficult to take on board. This amendment, particularly paragraph (f) that has been alluded to, looks like an attempt to rerun the referendum. I am trying to consider a situation where, say, a woman would go to a doctor and for some reason would have to go within days to another doctor who is not her GP and would be put through an inquisition. Part of the reason we decided on 12 weeks at the Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution was because women were buying medication over the Internet, self-medicating and putting themselves at risk. That is exactly what will happen, if this amendment and if the one that is associated with it, amendment No. 43b, which would criminalise doctors for not collecting the information that has been specified in amendment No. 43, were carried.

This is not about public health policy. This is about making women feel guilty. It is about making women feel ashamed. That is not part of good health policy. This is objectionable. It has been tabled for all the wrong reasons.

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