Seanad debates

Tuesday, 27 March 2018

An Bille um an Séú Leasú is Tríocha ar an mBunreacht 2018: An Dara Céim - Thirty-sixth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 2018: Second Stage

 

2:30 pm

Photo of Simon HarrisSimon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

In these cases, the people best placed to make such a decision are the woman and her medical team. We all have heard some heartbreaking stories of women in these situations who have chosen differently. Unlike the crude and ignorant commentary I heard in the other House, in both circumstances, regardless of the choice the woman makes, those are babies who were loved and wanted. We have to respect the different choices. To deal with rape and incest, the joint committee recommended termination of pregnancy be permitted up to 12 weeks without specific indication. The majority of members of the joint committee saw legal and medical difficulties if there was to be a requirement that a rape be verified and that a pregnancy was as a result of that rape. This would have run the risk of retraumatising women in such cases and could not be stood over.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.