Results 21,681-21,700 of 46,014 for speaker:Simon Harris

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2018)

Simon Harris: Under the legislation as currently envisaged, it would not be possible to pre-sign because one would need to see and be examined by the doctor. In fairness, none of the amendments seeks to take away from that. I referenced the Hubert case in another jurisdiction where that difficulty was encountered. We are all in this together and want to do this. We are protecting women by ensuring we...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2018)

Simon Harris: I thank Senators for their contributions on this important issue. I know it is one about which people feel very strongly. I approach this Bill from a simple enough perspective, namely, I feel a duty. People do not agree with me, and I have already heard people over there who do not agree with me on this. However, I am doing what I said I was going to do during the referendum...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2018)

Simon Harris: Senator Bacik raised an important point and one on which I am happy to put on record my position. It is my intention to bring forward health legislation in 2019 to legislate for safe access zones. The Government made a decision that we should do that so I have a Government decision to do it. I also have a Government decision that it would be health legislation, which is important. I have...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2018)

Simon Harris: I feel no discomfort on being a man.

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2018)

Simon Harris: The long and the short of this is the removal of the word "serious" would create a broadening of the grounds for termination in Ireland. I am not in a position to do that. I do not believe I am mandated to do that. On Senator Gavan’s point, I am certainly not going to ask anyone to wait three years. I am suggesting we pass the legislation in order that women can access termination...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2018)

Simon Harris: There could be two women with exactly the same medical condition that risks their health and each of those women could make different decisions. One could decide to proceed with that risk and the other could decide, for her own personal and family reasons, to terminate that pregnancy. I very much think the referendum was about choice, so yes, of course the subjective view of the woman...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2018)

Simon Harris: Now and again I have to go to the bathroom, a Chathaoirligh. Thank you for facilitating me in that regard. My colleague, who is well able to speak on behalf of the Government, will have outlined my position to the House. I do not believe that the wording should be changed. This is based on the legal advice I have received from the Attorney General and the engagement I have had with the...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2018)

Simon Harris: I have no difficulty with Senator Mullen's questions. The answer is to refer to the fact that the 2013 Act refers to "immediately necessary". As a result of that, the Medical Council guidelines also refer to "necessary". The Medical Council has already indicated that its guidelines will now be updated following what I hope will soon become a new Act. Senator Mullen is quoting – he...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2018)

Simon Harris: No.

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2018)

Simon Harris: I think we are. Various people in the House will get legal and medical advice and perhaps everyone will disclose from where they get their legal and medical advice. I get mine from the chief medical officer. The chief medical officer's advice comes in many forms, including verbal form in engagements and meetings. I am confident he is satisfied it is the correct wording to use. I am...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2018)

Simon Harris: Of course there is subjectivity in medicine every day of the week. This is about trusting clinicians to make judgments. We just had a discussion on the previous section about the variety of scenarios doctors may find themselves in, having to make decisions where there could be a very serious risk to the health of the woman. Doctors have to make decisions. The word "necessary" removes...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (10 Dec 2018)

Simon Harris: No.

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Dec 2018)

Simon Harris: I agree entirely with Senator Bacik in her comments on where we are with this legislation and the importance of January. I hear comments about it being a political deadline and think that is really offensive. I will not be in a crisis in January, but 300-plus women will be. It is not a political or a ministerial deadline. It is not a target but a recognition that, eight months after the...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Dec 2018)

Simon Harris: Senator Ó Domhnaill's colleagues in the Dáil will assure him that in any briefings that I have done, I have included people from a variety of perspectives on this issue. I have no difficulty in doing that again. After Committee Stage in the Dáil, I invited anyone who had participated in the debate and wished to partake to do so.I have no difficulty in arranging that through...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Dec 2018)

Simon Harris: I thank Senators for tabling these amendments as they highlight a very important area on which I was prompted to seek greater clarity. I have discussed this with Senator Ardagh and her party colleagues, Senator Ruane and others. Senator Gavan is correct that we moved in the Dáil to fix a practical challenge in the delivery of services in early pregnancy. While we do not all share this...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Dec 2018)

Simon Harris: It is a question of balance here. We must make sure this is operable from a doctor's point of view. All of us or certainly those of us in favour of the legislation want to make sure it can work and provide access for women. In making sure it works for doctors, we need to make sure it works for women. That is a balance. There is a duty of care on the part of the obstetric community in...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Dec 2018)

Simon Harris: Not in the emergency-led-----

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Dec 2018)

Simon Harris: I will be very clear because I do not want anyone thinking this in any devalues the woman's life because I would have thought we have come a long way from that with the referendum and the result the people gave us. If there is an immediate risk to the woman's health or life, the emergency provision is very clear in terms of many of the other procedures or processes being discarded. This is...

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Dec 2018)

Simon Harris: I do not disagree with that but this is different in the sense that there is a risk of the law of unintended consequences where one obstetrician-----

Seanad: Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed) (10 Dec 2018)

Simon Harris: We will get to that in a second. It involves where one doctor has got to know a woman and her medical history well and has certified that she needs this medical intervention in the interests of her life or health. Then, all of a sudden, she needs to find and depend on another obstetrician.