Susan O'Keeffe (Labour) | Oireachtas source

No matter how many times we stand up and say this, it seems to make no difference and it seems nobody is listening. I would like to refer to a report in the journal of the American Psychological Association which referred to the findings issued by a Professor Coleman. The association found that there were serious flaws in the figures she gave which indicated that more women who had abortions were vulnerable to suicide after the abortion. She had included women who had depression prior to any abortion and, therefore, the abortion was not the contributing factor. The review by the journal's editors showed there were errors in her report, yet it has been used by many people across the world as proof that abortion contributes to suicide afterwards.

Many women seek abortion and many thousands of women have had abortions. At some point we will have to have the debate on their behalf - on behalf of the life people lead, not the life we would like to believe they lead.

We stopped dancing at the crossroads many years ago. I believe we should have that debate in the future. Today, I welcome this Bill as a small step forward for the protection of women and those who care for them in the medical profession.