Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would like to respond briefly. Nothing that I have said about mental health sets anything back 50 years. It is the Minister who has failed to address for even one moment the latest evidence, the best evidence and the evidence that was brought before the joint committee last year about what is the position as to whether abortion is ever therapeutic in mental health situations. I went through that earlier and will not rehearse it again. I am not the one skating over the facts here. The best current evidence available points to the need for the Minister to make a distinction in legislation as to what is appropriate when treating a mental health challenge in this context and what is appropriate to treating a physical health challenge.

The Minister seems to wish to appropriate blame to me for seeking to amend section 10 in particular because it refers to emergency situations. I have made it very clear that nothing in the proposed amendment would prevent the treatment that section 10 will allow. It would simply create a duty to try to save the life of the baby in post-viability situations. That is a very modest request. Unless the Minister is telling me that the death of the child is actually what is wanted-----