Michael Collins (Cork South West, Independent) | Oireachtas source

While amendment No. 46 has been tabled by pro-life Deputies, in reality, it is the very model of a pro-choice amendment as it seeks to ensure that where a pregnant woman is considering a termination, she would, before making a final decision on parenting, adoption or a termination, be fully informed of her choices. We know that this is regularly not the case. Many women who have had an abortion or who have considered having one say they felt they had no choice. Many more say they simply were not aware of some of the supports available to them. For these and other women, pregnancy often felt like a crisis because they could see no way out of the difficult situation in which they found themselves. However, many of them say they changed their mind about abortion when they received the information, or that if they had had that information, they might not have proceeded to have an abortion. It seems that, for some women at least, being given access to information on support services has affected their choice. The amendment seeks to ensure pregnant women would be given enough information in order that they could make informed choices about how they would proceed, whether to parent their child, place him or her for adoption or end the child's life prematurely by having an abortion.

The choice to end a baby's life is irreversible. It is often made in desperation and leads to devastation for the baby's parents. Thankfully, the Bill retains, for now, in section 14 the three-day reflection period for elective abortions requested in early pregnancy. However, without a guarantee that pregnant women would be offered information on the supports available and given time to reflect on them, as well as time to seek counselling or more information, the effectiveness of the three-day provision will be weakened and women will not always be able to make the most informed choice possible. It is true that the people voted in favour of having some element of choice, but the only way an informed choice can be made is if one is fully informed.

It is worth taking a look at the type of information the amendment proposes should be made available to women. I find it hard to believe any of my fellow Deputies would object to a woman being offered such information. These are direct quotes from amendment No. 46, subsection (8). Women are to be offered:

...information [on] (a) public and private agencies and services available to assist a pregnant woman through pregnancy, upon childbirth, and while her child is dependent;

(b) information as to available medical assistance, supports and benefits for prenatal care, childbirth, and neonatal care;

(c) information on the support obligations of the father of a child who is born.

If Deputies believe women deserve to be told about supports, they must vote to support the amendment. We would all like to believe all doctors already give women this information when they come to them with an unexpected or challenging pregnancy. However, given the vast array of conditions with which patients come to GPs, it is not reasonable to expect them to be fully up to speed with all of the support services available during pregnancy, especially as the circumstances in which each woman finds herself are often unique and challenging and she may need specialised support. Surely providing such an information booklet for all GPs in order that they can offer women facing an unexpected or challenging pregnancy should already have been a priority of the Government and one would have thought it was the case, given its apparent concern for women. However, to the best of my knowledge, many doctors do not believe they have been prepared to fully inform a pregnant woman of the vast range of support services available to her. It must be remembered that, up to now, many women facing what they considered to be a crisis pregnancy would not have gone to their GP in the first instance, especially if they were considering a termination. Many of them would have gone to a crisis pregnancy agency which was more likely to have detailed information or supports available. The Minister is now doing everything he can to force an overstretched and, for the most part, an unwilling GP service to help women to end the lives of their unborn children.

He is doing everything he can to rush through legislation and introduce medical guidelines and training for GPs on how to perform abortions by 1 January. I have not heard one word from the Minister about how he will ensure that these GPs are also provided with a full list of support services and alternatives to abortion that they can offer when consulted by a woman facing an unexpected or challenging pregnancy. Indeed, this information should be made available to all GPs. I have not heard one word about how the Minister will offer support to women who want to keep their babies but need extra help. The Minister knows that there are many State-run and privately operated support services that will support women through pregnancy.

The Minister says, or at least said before the referendum, that he wants to reduce the number of abortions. However, I do not recall any recent HSE public information campaign reminding women that support is available to them and their babies, that adoption is still an option, that pregnancy and parenting support is available to them, that Government support is available to young parents still in education, or that post-abortion counselling is available. If the Minister really wanted to reduce the number of abortions, it should have been a firm policy of this Government to ensure that women are fully informed of all these support services. Instead we now see the Minister's true colours. He intends to set up a 24 hour hotline to advertise for abortion providers, but he has done nothing to ensure that women will be more aware of the supports that exist for them.

This amendment seeks to ensure that women will be offered information and supports. I implore the Minister to accept it. If he continues to reject amendments that seek to support mothers facing challenging pregnancies, I implore other Deputies to support it to ensure that no woman has an abortion because she does not know what other supports are available to her. I implore Deputies to support women by helping to inform them. I ask all Members to support this amendment.

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