Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We also propose to make provision for access to termination of pregnancy on an emergency basis in line with the process in the 2013 Act. That would cover situations in which the risk to the life or of serious harm to the health of the pregnant woman is immediate. We cannot tie the hands of our clinicians in responding immediately to threats to the life or health of a woman.

Should a referendum on Article 40.3.3° be passed, the Government would propose to permit termination of pregnancy on the grounds of a condition which is likely to lead to death before or shortly after birth. In these cases, two appropriate medical practitioners, as opposed to just one as was proposed in the joint Oireachtas committee report, would be involved in the assessment, recognising that these complex medical cases are currently managed by multidisciplinary teams. As for the risk to life or health ground, one of the medical practitioners would have to be an obstetrician and the procedure would have to be carried out by an obstetrician.

In these terrible and tragic cases, the reality is that women may choose different options. Many will choose to continue with the pregnancy. They must and should be supported. Others, however, may not. They need to be supported too.