Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Subsection (7)(b) of the new section proposed in amendment No. 46 refers to information that should be offered to any woman who is given a diagnosis of a life-limiting condition for her son or daughter. This is a particularly important subsection as we have all heard many stories of parents who received a heart-breaking diagnosis indicating their child might not live long. One horrifyingly common theme ran through many of the emotional testimonies shared by parents who chose termination and parents who chose life. Most of those parents repeated their experience of being told by a doctor in Ireland that their child had a serious condition and was likely to die and that many women in their situation chose to travel to the UK. Parents often report being left alone and heartbroken to process this news. Our doctors did not always ensure, as a matter of course, that the affected parents were informed about perinatal hospice care, palliative care, counselling services, support groups of parents who had received a similar diagnosis or the chance, however remote, that their child might live. These failings of professionals in Ireland to inform women and couples of all supports at an incredibly vulnerable time should break all our hearts and should be a clear reminder just why this amendment is so important to ensure all women and all parents receiving such a difficult diagnosis are given information on all supports available to them.

I hate talking about a Member who has left the Chamber. Every time she makes a famous statement, she runs out the door. I have no choice but to consider some of the issues she raised in her contribution. She was entitled to make it and I have to respect that but I want to explain to her the position on the fairy stories she spoke about last week when we spoke about the Canadian lady who had survived an abortion. The Deputy does not seem to have seen the video during the week about a lady who lives in Ireland who survived an abortion and how insulted she was on hearing her story described as a fairy story, and about how insulted tens of thousands of women right across the world would have been if they had heard their stories referred to as fairy stories. That is a shocking insult by Deputy O'Connell to women of this country who survived an abortion and horrific circumstances. For her to comment on her fellow women like that is appalling.

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