Lorraine Clifford Lee (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

As other Senators have done, I wish to pay tribute to the committee members, including the Members of this House, and especially Senator Noone who chaired the committee. I have great admiration and respect for Senator Noone and all the committee members for putting together the committee's report. It was an important task, following on from the report of the Citizens' Assembly. I commend the committee. It has done the State some service.

I support the recommendations of the committee. I look forward to a referendum date being set by the Taoiseach. It is clear that the eighth amendment is not working for women. Irish abortions happen every day. Some 4,000 women travel to the UK each year to acquire a termination. Many more women are buying dangerous abortion pills online and are taking them without medical supervision.

I have spoken with women who have travelled, in already traumatic circumstances, on flights full of stag parties and business people on their way to meetings. These women sat in blood soaked clothes on the flight home. Once they arrived back in Ireland they had to travel for hours on buses and trains to get to their homes in other parts of the country.

I have spoken with women who have purchased abortion pills on the Internet and were terrified that if something went wrong, they would have no one to turn to for help. This is not good enough. We do not need another woman to bleed to death in a grotto like Ann Lovett, or in a bedroom or bathroom because our society is not able to face up to the reality of crisis pregnancies.

Nobody wants to have a termination, but for some women it is necessary. We need to be compassionate and we need to trust women to know their own minds. We need to stop brushing things under the carpet. Ireland is an independent Republic and we need to stop relying on other countries to provide health care to women from Ireland. It is clear from the evidence from medical experts that the eighth amendment acts as a barrier to the best medical care and outcomes for women. We all know women who have had a termination. The eighth amendment does not deter women from seeking abortions; they will continue to travel and endure poor quality health care, financial strain, anxiety, stigma and separation from support at a time when they need it most. I appeal to colleagues in this House and in the Dáil to support the recommendations in the report and to allow the people to have their say.