Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

-----because this has been a very lengthy, thorough process with the Citizens' Assembly and the Oireachtas committee. I commend my colleague, Senator Noone, for her chairmanship, all Members of this House who were on it, and all Members of the other House who were on it, the leadership I have seen in individual political parties, and the leadership I have seen from individual leaders of different political parties. On a cross-party basis people have stepped up and they have shown leadership. We have had people who have had very sincere views on this all their lives who remain steadfast to that. We have people whose views on this have changed, and we should respect that as well. It should not be viewed as a U-turn or any sort of flip-flop when people follow the evidence, talk to clinicians and change their mind. That is also an important part of the democratic process.

However, as much as I am proud of all of my colleagues for the leadership that people have shown in arriving at this point, let us not fool ourselves - the reason we are here is not because of political leadership, it is because of people like Amanda Mellett, Siobhán Whelan, Savita, Miss A, Miss B, Miss C, Miss D, Miss P, Miss X. It is because of the families involved in Terminations for Medical Reasons. It is because of all of the people who have bravely come forward and told their stories, who felt they had to tell their private stories so we could greater understand their agony and the unfairness of the current system.

However, it is not just those who told their stories, it is the many thousands of people who have never told their stories. When Members go out to canvass, whether it is for a "Tá" or a "Níl" they should be conscious as they ring door bells that they do not know the people who they are talking to and what they have been through because it is not possible to have that many Irish people travel abroad since 1983 and not to meet someone affected. We know the figures. It is at least 160,000 and we know that is likely to be a significant underestimation. It is not possible to have thousands of women a year in Ireland taking the abortion pill without meeting someone affected, every time one knocks on a door or goes into a housing estate or goes up a boreen or laneway in a village. This is not something that affects urban areas or mainly Dublin people as I sometimes hear, this is a nationwide issue and Members will come across people who have a story that may not have been told. Let us be very respectful and conscious of that. It is for all those people that I have mentioned, the names we know; the names that, sadly, have become household names in many ways in relation to this, and the names we do not know. It is for them that we do this because in my view they deserve better.I am very conscious that people have legitimate concerns, as alluded to by many Senators. It is appropriate for such people to put those concerns to us and for those of us proposing a change to endeavour to answer them. To those people, I say that we are bringing forward comprehensive draft legislation to provide them with an indication of what the law in this area would be. I ask that everyone remember that this legislation did not drop from the sky and was not quickly magicked up by a Government, Minster, party or politician but, rather, is the product of the best thinking of a cross-party grouping of public representatives who, unlike many present, spent months sitting in a basement in Leinster House listening to the best clinical medical, academic and legal evidence. That was further stress-tested and finessed by means of Oireachtas debates, the Government process, a policy paper and now the legislation. It is easy for one to say that one would vote for a different proposition if it were available and that is a perfectly valid position to hold. However, I challenge those who hold such a view to tell me what different proposition he or she would suggest. The formulation of a different proposition is not straightforward and we saw how difficult it is to do so when people tried to come up with alternative propositions in recent weeks.

To those who say that there is a lack of certainty because although I am bringing forward legislation, there is no guarantee that it will pass, I point out that one could say that about any referendum. There was scare-mongering in regard to the marriage equality legislation. We had to pass legislation relating to the children's referendum. Governments change and elections happen. Legislation follows every referendum that is passed and such legislation goes through the Houses of the Oireachtas. One could make the argument about the passing of legislation in regard to any referendum.

I hope as people get the opportunity to look through the detail of the legislation they will appreciate that I do not support abortion on demand and do not believe that what we have proposed provides for abortion on demand. Even saying that phrase makes me shudder. We have put in place a proposal for a very considered, regulated, supervised and safe medical environment for a woman to access health care which many are already accessing. What we have today in Ireland is unregulated and unrestricted abortion. People order abortion pills on the Internet. Would one want one's daughter, wife, sister or mother to access such medicines through a doctor and go through a very deliberative process involving a 72 hour waiting period, all options being outlined in a proper consultation and knowing the quality of the medication or to order them on the Internet? That is the choice. It is not about whether one is for or against the abortion pill because it is already being used in Ireland. Rather, it is about whether one is in favour of women accessing the abortion pill through a smartphone and An Post or in a doctor's surgery.