Seanad debates
Tuesday, 11 December 2018
Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2018: Committee Stage (Resumed)
10:30 am
Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source
I will come to that. Addressing the comments of my friend and colleague, Senator McDowell, if it is another kind of a crime, I would have thought that the balance of advantage lies with this requirement for notification of parents. Unless it is believed that the parents are somehow complicit in the crime, it would surely be wrong to contemplate notifying various civil authorities, such as the Garda and health authorities, but not to require notification to the parents, particularly in circumstances where something with such potentially far-reaching consequences for a young woman as abortion which is final not just for the unborn child but may also have far-reaching consequences for her. If it relates to non-criminal behaviour, and here is where it comes to what Senator Norris rightly asks, parents who are reasonable and hard working, struggle at times and there are times when parents-----
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