Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I know that people have other views; this is just mine. I asked for an explanation outside the House also. I am not saying it is acceptable to lose three people, but notionally does that mean that, albeit how rare this is, if we could put 100 people together, would the statistics be the same? Would we be prescribing a termination in these 100 cases to save three women such that 97 abortions might be unnecessary? That was the question I asked and I was told that this could be the case.

I will oppose the Bill for one reason, which is that I have continuing concerns that a termination of pregnancy on the grounds of suicidal ideation is not evidence based. There is evidence from the experts who support the Bill and also from those who oppose it that abortion cannot in any way be regarded as a treatment for somebody who is genuinely suicidal. The bottom line for me is that I want to protect life. That is the bottom line for everybody in the room, but I suppose we have different interpretations of how that is best achieved. I know that we have had many debates in the last year which have informed all of us, but I have seen so much for and against from the top names, people in this House on all sides and inside and outside my party whom I respect and who are persuasive in their arguments and have provided expert medical and legal opinion to back up both sides of the argument. Therefore, the onus is on me to make a decision based on what I think is the best way to protect life. There is much in the Bill with which nobody would have a problem. I have a wife, two daughters, sisters, many neighbours and friends who are women. Nobody should think I would not want them to have the best possible treatment available to them at all times, including while they were pregnant. That is a no-brainer for me. Perhaps in my naivety I thought that care was available.

There were instances in the media that were covered very well such as the Savita case. Regrettably, these issues have been linked. On reading the Bill, I fear a case of death by misadventure or medical neglect could still happen. The debate has linked these issues, but they are not linked. However, I would like the best for my wife, daughters, sisters, neighbours and so on. There is much in the Bill that formalises what obstetricians and midwives have been taught since the 1950s and that is admirable. In isolation, I can imagine that everybody could support the Bill. However, I cannot support it because the suicide clause is included. We have the issue of the Supreme Court judgment in the X case and that is why we must legislate, according to some. However, there were eminent legal minds on both sides. In a professional capacity, if I were to engage Senator Ivana Bacik and other colleagues from that profession and was paying their fees, they could tell me what argument to make to win it. The evidence in the X case on the suicide question was not contested and I know that, according to some of the eminent experts, one of whom was Dr. Cahill of UCC, it did not constitute a precedent. We certainly heard these opinions and in including it, at a minimum we could be wrong. That is my fear.

I have only had ten minutes and think we would all be able to speak for 20 minutes or more on this issue. I respect everybody's right to hold a different position from mine. I hope the debate will be respectful. All of the experts divide into two camps and there are very few in the middle. I have had to take my own decision. While I appreciate that some are saying the floodgates will not open, I fear that they might. It might not happen today, tomorrow, next year or even in ten years, but we might look back and say it was a mistake to include it. I feel it is a mistake and I have listened more to the experts than many of those who will participate in the debate, having attended the various hearings.

I wrote the Fianna Fáil policy paper on suicide prevention and Senator Mary M. White also did substantial work in that area. I am not trying in any way to belittle that work. It is the major silent crisis facing society and we have only ever dealt with in a superficial way and paid lip service to it. We cannot do enough to deal with it because it will kill 600 people in the next 12 months. By this day next week, nine more people will be dead by suicide and six of those will be men. I do not want to belittle the issue of suicide in any way, but I am afraid I cannot and will not support the Bill, specifically because of the inclusion of the suicidal ideation clause.

After following all of the expert advice on both sides, I had to take my own decision because the advice was conflicting.