Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I received a well worded tweet from a person who asked when conscientious objection was expanded to mean that only the consciences of the objectors were to be considered in preference to those of the rest of us. It is a very poignant way of putting the argument. As has been pointed out, the question of conscientious objection is dealt with in medical regulations. In including it in the Bill we would just be restating what is already in place. What is being inserted into the Bill is the requirement to refer onwards, but it is not worded in that way. It states, "shall, as soon as may be, make arrangements for the transfer of care of the pregnant woman concerned as may be necessary to enable the woman to avail of the termination". That could mean referring her to the 24/7 helpline.

It is absolutely essential if we are to give structure, legislation and rights to people following the repeal of the eighth amendment, that all women have access to the choice to terminate a pregnancy. That may mean a woman in an isolated rural village, a woman in a direct provision centre, a woman who does not have good command of the English language or a terrified young woman who has been raped. It could mean anyone. Anybody who paid attention to the deliberations of the Citizens' Assembly and the committee will remember the many hundreds of cases in which a woman or girl may have sought an abortion and the circumstances they faced. I may be wrong, but the kind side of me cannot imagine that there are hundreds of doctors who do not want to provide abortion advice or for referrals, who would turn away women or young girls who are absolutely desperate and not give them information to allow them to access an abortion service through another doctor or the helpline. I find it hard to imagine that there are 600 or 700 cruel professionals who do not give a damn about their main patient, the patient who is alive and kicking. That patient is often working and has problems or a crisis. She may have other children. Most of the time she has other children she has to attend to and also has a job and a life. I cannot imagine that it is the case that when she finds herself in a crisis, she will be told by these 600 or 700 cruel and inhumane doctors to go to Hell, that they do not care about her, that she is one of their two patients, that they care more about the other and that they will not refer her onwards.

I refer to the statement that the Minister would take longer to deal with a Bill on hedge cutting. Give me a break. Was the Deputy comparing women's lives to the cutting of hedging?

See this speech in context