Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We are discussing several amendments. I welcome the Minister's amendment extending the right to conscience to the candidate division of the registrar, in other words, to students. That is a small step in the right direction. I listened with great care to my colleague, Deputy Brassil. Having listened to the Minister's explanation, I do not think he dealt with the issues raised by Deputy Brassil.

Conscientious objection is the nub of the issue. Over my lifetime, I have known many medical people - nurses, midwives and doctors - who had a total commitment to the protection of human life. In the case of a pregnancy, they have always seen two human lives to be protected as far as practicable. I do not want to be provocative, but I have to take issue with what Deputy Durkan said on a number of grounds. Any medical intervention required to save the life of the mother was traditionally carried out by good medical practitioners. I have known people who were totally committed to the concept of two patients but would never have hesitated to intervene if the mother' life was at risk. It is interesting to ask whether that constitutes termination within the terms of this Bill. The purpose of such an intervention is to save the life of the mother. The definition of a termination in the Bill is as follows: "“termination of pregnancy”, in relation to a pregnant woman, means a medical procedure which is intended to end the life of a foetus". As such, the purpose in those cases is not to save the life of the mother.

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