Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

The use of the word "necessary" absolutely does not remove scope for judgment. Doctors make judgments on what is necessary every day and they are judged and given a considerable amount of scope for their clinical judgment to decide whether something is necessary. It is incorrect for the Minister to say the use of the word "necessary" imports some kind of strict liability to use a parallel example, or creates a situation whereby the doctor has absolutely no room to manoeuvre. That is simply not the case. Doctors make an assessment and decide whether something is necessary. It is a word that has been used all along in medicine. It is the word that delivered freedom for doctors to intervene where necessary under the eighth amendment and that was not problematic. This was stated by Dr. Mary Holohan and others in the run-up to the referendum. The Minister is introducing a new word, and what he is doing is creating a greater likelihood that abortions will take place than that they will not. This is a very serious matter and it is all the more serious because we are talking about abortions that may take place up to viability.