John Gilroy (Labour) | Oireachtas source

What about a situation where pulmonary hypertension is present and the mother's life is threatened with immediate effect? Senators might wish to consult the website of the Mayo Clinic for information on what I am referring to here. In such cases, even when rapid and immediate medical treatment is given, the outcomes are not always life-saving. In the case of pulmonary hypertension and aortic dissection, the direct cause of the threat to life of the woman is her pregnancy. We all agree that such conditions, which are extremely rare, would qualify under section 8. Their reported instance is so low that it is not even possible to formulate an opinion on their statistical prevalence. We are all surely agreed that termination of pregnancy is justified in those circumstances. However, Members on the other side of the House have seen fit to accuse me of being pro-abortion. I am not any more pro-abortion than is Senator Walsh, yet he has made that charge on numerous occasions in the House.