Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I will return to some of the principles on which the repeal the eighth amendment campaign was fought and discussed by people up and down the country. The reason for bringing in the non-surgical method of taking a pill pre-12 weeks was to allow someone in a crisis pregnancy to have the issue addressed as safely as possible early in the pregnancy without the need for any kind of surgical intervention. That is the way in which termination services are moving worldwide.

If there is a good system of information and sex education in place, people will be conscious of their own physiology and if they become pregnant, they will be able to address it as quickly as possible. For instance, over the past decade, use of the morning after pill in Ireland has been widespread. Somebody who has fears because contraception was not present or failed can avail of this pill. The 12-week principle is, in essence, an extension of that, which we want to see applied as early as possible.

From my experience of legislation, this convoluted amendment is unlikely to be workable in practice. The Minister clearly set out the argument last night, and I am sure he would be willing to do so again, if necessary. Dr. Harty made the point very clearly from a general practitioner's point of view and experience. We are talking here about girls. They are children. Nobody here would not want parents to be involved if the parents are actively concerned about their children, but that may not always be the case, for various reasons. I do not see what this adds to all the notification structures that have been established and set out in great detail in the legislation. A prior requirement broadly exists in Irish law that, if a girl under 16 becomes pregnant, there is in most cases a prima faciecase that she has been the subject of abuse or rape and that this should be communicated to the child protection authorities and the Garda.

Other than frustrating the progress of this legislation and making life almost impossible for doctors who are willing to provide these services, I do not understand this amendment. I will pose again a question I asked last night. Deputies on the other side of the argument have spoken about being loving parents and grandparents. Are we not all loving parents and grandparents? Are there any parents in this House who do not seek to love their children in their own best way? We are all like that. Everybody is like that, regardless of their view on this. Do Deputies want to see circumstances in which the matter of a pregnant 12 or 13 year old who has clearly been the subject of abuse cannot be addressed as the child and her parents wish? This amendment is frustrating the purpose of the Bill and the referendum on which people voted. I ask the Deputies who support it to consider withdrawing it. Perhaps the Minister will restate the advice he offered last night.

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