James Reilly (Dublin North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am pleased to introduce the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill to the House. At the outset let us be clear: this Bill is about protecting the life of the mother and her unborn child. As all Members are aware, on 12 June 2013 the Government approved the publication of this Bill. They also will be aware of the considerable time that has been spent in constructively debating the Bill in the Dáil, time which I believe reflects the complexity of the issues involved, the emotive nature of the subject and the great interest of all Members of both Houses.

To clarify, the Bill aims to give effect to the Government's decision in December 2012 to legislate in this area within the parameters of Article 40.3.3° of the Constitution, as interpreted by the Supreme Court in the X case, in order to implement the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the A, B and C v. Ireland case. At this stage, it is worth reminding oneself of the findings of this judgment. Three applicants, A, B and C, all of whom had crisis pregnancies, brought proceedings against Ireland before the European Court of Human Rights claiming violations of Articles 2, 3, 8, 14 and 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In its judgment delivered on 16 December 2010, the Grand Chamber determined there had been no violation of the convention with regard to the first and second applicants, Ms A and Ms B. The Grand Chamber determined there had been a violation of Article 8 of the convention in respect of the applicant Ms C. The court found that Ireland had failed to respect Ms C's right to private life contrary to Article 8 of the convention, as there was no accessible and effective procedure to enable her to establish whether she qualified for a lawful termination of pregnancy in accordance with Irish law. The aim of the Bill is to provide such clarity and a procedure. However, it is worth noting again that the issues at stake here are extremely complex and engage with fundamental rights.

I will begin by stating definitively that the main purpose of the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013 is to restate the general prohibition on abortion in Ireland, while regulating access to lawful termination of pregnancy in accordance with the X case and the judgment of the European Court of Human rights in the A, B and C v. Ireland case. Its purpose is to confer procedural rights on a woman who believes she has a life-threatening condition in order that she can have certainty as to whether she requires this treatment. I wish to emphasise that the Bill provides for existing rights, that is, within the constitutional provisions and the Supreme Court judgment in the X case; it does not confer any new substantive rights to a termination of pregnancy.

I will now take Members through the Bill, section by section, to clarify its provisions. The Bill is divided into three parts and includes a Schedule. Section 1 of the Bill makes standard provisions setting out the Short Title of the Bill and arrangements for its commencement. Section 2 deals with the interpretation of the Bill and defines the meanings of some of the terms used for the purposes of the Bill, including appropriate institutions, relevant specialty and medical practitioner. This section was amended slightly by the Government during the Dáil debates to remove the definition of "reasonable opinion" from section 2 and incorporate it, where appropriate, into the text of sections 7, 8, 9 and 13 instead. The definition places a statutory duty on certifying medical practitioners to preserve the life of the unborn as far as practicable, in a situation in which a decision is being made about whether there is a real and substantial risk to the life of the woman. The amendment provides clarity, in that including the definition of "reasonable opinion" in each section concerned means that one does not have to refer back to the definition section for a full understanding of what it means and its statutory intent.

Section 3 defines what is meant by "appropriate institutions" for the purpose of the Bill. Pending the introduction of licensing legislation, provision of terminations of pregnancy will be allowed only in public health care facilities where they can be duly monitored and investigated, should the need arise. Locations for the delivery of this treatment will be limited to public obstetric units or, where needed, large public multidisciplinary hospitals with critical and intensive care facilities. This definition widens the definition of "appropriate institutions" somewhat from that set out in the general scheme published in April. This was deemed necessary from the information provided by the Institute of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to the Oireachtas committee and the Department of Health. It had indicated that a small number of pregnant women with severe illness, such as cystic fibrosis or congenital heart conditions, require delivery in locations with immediate access to intensive and critical care facilities that are not available in some obstetric units. For this reason, the definition of "appropriate locations" now includes a small number of large multidisciplinary hospitals with intensive and critical care.

Section 4 allows me, as Minister, to make regulations to bring the legislation into operation and other such procedural matters. In this regard, I will be making regulations to set out the way in which medical practitioners will certify their opinions regarding the risk of loss of life to the woman, and whether a termination of pregnancy is required. These regulations will require, for example, certificates to indicate the clinical grounds for the opinion and other relevant details of the case at hand. Under the legislation, any such regulations will have to be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas for approval.

Section 5 repeals sections 58 and 59 of the Offences against the Person Act 1861 as they are replaced by the provisions made in sections 22 and 23 of this Bill. Under the Offences against the Person Act 1861, a woman can currently be prosecuted for an unlawful abortion, the penalty for which is "to be kept in penal servitude for life".

Section 6 allows that approved expenses associated with the administration of the Bill may be paid for from public funds.

Chapter 1 concerns the risk of loss of life of the pregnant woman. Sections 7, 8 and 9 deal with medical procedures permissible under this Bill. The Government made slight changes to these sections in the Dáil, again for the purpose of clarity. While the substance of sections 7, 8 and 9 remains unaltered, the order of the requirements in sections 7, 8 and 9 was switched to ensure that it was crystal clear to all concerned that the medical procedures in question would be permissible only if they meet the test laid out in the X case judgment. Some technical drafting amendments were also made to ensure that the order in which the provisions now appear is consistent throughout the Bill.

Section 7 deals with the risk of loss of life from physical illness. It provides that it is not an offence for an obstetrician or gynaecologist to carry out a medical procedure in the course of which or as result of which unborn human life is ended under certain circumstances. These are that the procedure is carried out in an appropriate institution and two medical practitioners registered on the specialist division of the Medical Council register, having examined the woman, have certified that in their reasonable opinion there is a real and substantial risk to the life, as opposed to the health, of the pregnant woman arising from a physical illness that can only be averted by this medical procedure.