David Norris (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I will simply put on record the content of the briefing I received from doctors as that would be the most economical use of my time. It states the following.

This section is intended to enable access to abortion for those people who find themselves in the distressing circumstances of having received a diagnosis that their pregnancy is not likely to lead to a positive birth outcome. In contrast to the wording of the General Scheme published in March 2018, the section now specifies that the foetus must have a condition likely to lead to death within 28 days of birth. While diagnosis of foetal anomaly involves high levels of certainty, prognosis does not. While it may be possible to predict that death soon after birth is likely, it is not usually possible to set out the exact time frame within which it will occur. Timelines of this sort are not currently used in clinical practice as part of the prognosis for a particular condition. The legislation clearly excludes cases where life expectancy after birth is short, and potentially burdensome and painful for the recently delivered foetus. This means that parents who receive diagnoses of serious and fatal anomalies, but where a life expectancy of less than 28 days cannot confidently be predicted, will still be required to travel abroad for abortion care if they decide they cannot continue with the pregnancy.

There is nothing to suggest that the 28-day time limit excludes invasive and intrusive measures to keep the newly born foetus artificially alive, but possibly in great pain and with little or no prospect of independent, pain-free survival. The 28-day time limit has not been scrutinised ... There is no need to specify a timeline for foetal death in the legislation; instead the wording as proposed in the March 2018 General Scheme [should] be restored. This clearly limits access to lawful abortion to situations of fatal diagnosis for the foetus, but better supports parents who decide it would best to access abortion care in Ireland where an exact life expectancy cannot be clinically predicted.