Emer Higgins (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In 2018, Irish people voted overwhelmingly to repeal the eighth amendment. They voted to give women autonomy and choice over their decisions and their bodies. Deputies and Senators in democratically-elected Chambers legislated for that accordingly. Those laws made by our legislators, not Canon Law, should determine women's reproductive health services.

Religious involvement in the offering of services accessible in the national maternity hospital would be as inappropriate and as out of place as medical involvement over what is said at mass. How do we ensure that women can access the full complement of maternity and reproductive healthcare and have full autonomy over their bodies and their choices in our new national maternity hospital?

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