Susan O'Keeffe (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for coming to the House. Like others, I welcome Mr. Justice Ryan's expert group's report. I also welcome the Minister's clear observation that the Government will bring legal clarity to the question of legal abortion and that this will be done within an appropriate timeline. After all, there has been a long wait for the legislation.

While I welcome the expert group's report, we did not need it to tell us what we need to do. As it is only women who can give birth and there is no control over biology or the birth process, it will always be women whose lives will be at risk. It will always be women's bodies that will be subject to the wear and tear. It will always be women who will go through the trauma and, I hope, the triumph of bringing new life into the world. Therefore, this is about women and their health and how Ireland in the 21st century wants to respond to that need. As others said, this is a complex issue because in giving birth there will always be a risk - a risk to the baby and the mother. Any of us who is lucky to have children knows this in a personal way. Some of us also know the heartbreak of losing a potential life and the grave risk we endured in that process. Giving birth is both fraught and dangerous, even when it goes well, because there is always a risk. How could there not be at such a dramatic moment?

As human beings, our first instinct is to protect. Generally, that is what we all do in everything, but the great challenge in pregnancy is that in the circumstances we are discussing there are two lives in the mix, not one, and one of these lives is entirely dependent on the other. Of course, there are no easy answers, but that is no reason to sidestep trying to answer them and in the process suggest and pretend that women's lives are not important, especially those at risk of suicide, and that they might, as others said, be faking it. We have debated the issue of suicide frequently and expressed ourselves as being concerned about the growth in the incidence of suicide, but, apparently, when it comes to pregnant women potentially being suicidal, they are somehow fair game. I cannot find words to express my horror at what has happened in the middle of this debate. Senator Rónán Mullen used the term "unmedical", whatever that might mean.

Even though we did not need an expert group to tell us, its report does bring welcome clarity to the debate and we must now move into the legislative arena. The Minster and the Government understand strong legislation and coherent guidelines, as suggested in the report, would provide a framework to protect women and give much needed support to the medical profession, the members of which face difficult decisions each time they are called to act in a crisis pregnancy. The report sets out a clear blueprint for such legislation, including the appropriate qualifications of doctors, lawyer involvement, appropriate access to the courts and the nature of a formal review process, among other issues. Legislation will be difficult and take time, but much of the basic work has been done by the expert group in offering a framework, for which we thank it. I, therefore, urge the Government to put the legislation at the top of the drafting list, call together officials in the Departments of Health and Justice and Equality and ensure the drafting process starts immediately. Having waited 20 years since the landmark X case and in truth for much longer because there were many others before the X case who never had a chance to have their voices heard in court, clarity and decency would be brought to the medical profession and women in the first quarter of 2013.

Ireland should be a modern, progressive country that treats all citizens equally. Our 19th century law is a voice from another time. Like others, I find it insulting and demeaning to have to listen to some of the lies and innuendoes which those who profess to be pro-life bring to the debate. I am astounded by some of the misogynistic tones. I am pro-life. I am pro the lives of women and babies, but if a woman in Ireland or anywhere else is ill during pregnancy, physically or mentally, her life must be protected. How could it not be?

I do not want to let the debate end without mentioning Savita Halappanavar. I pay tribute to her husband, Praveen, and his dignity. We are not aware of all the circumstances of the case, but it has certainly contributed to the debate. I urge the Minister and the Government to consider initiating a sworn independent inquiry as the appropriate way to find out what happened. I firmly believe an independent inquiry would be the most appropriate way to respond to this tragedy, not instead of the HSE inquiry which is obligatory but in addition to it. That the HSE appears to have breached its own guidelines in not having a local case review immediately after her death is a separate issue.