Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We commit to that.

I want to speak on the issue of criminalisation this evening, on which I also spoke on Committee Stage. It is an area about which I feel particularly passionate, as do my party colleagues.

I was a member of the Oireachtas committee and we were very clear about the need for decriminalisation. While I commend the Minister on many of the things he has done in the Bill, he has not fully honoured what we requested in that respect. That speaks specifically to amendment No. 36 where we used the phrase "good faith" which came from the committee recommendation. With that amendment we have tried to ensure that medical practitioners as well as people acting with the explicit permission of the pregnant person are excluded from offences. Medical professionals need to be assured that if they do their job in good faith, they will not be exposed to prison sentences for administering healthcare.

The Joint Committee on the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution heard about the chilling effect this has had on doctors and how such sanctions inhibit them from carrying out their work in good faith. If we do not explicitly protect doctors we will continue to see a chilling effect on doctors and this could end up endangering women's health. I appeal to colleagues across the Chamber to recognise this is a significant addition we should all be able to agree on and support when we vote in a few minutes.

Amendment No. 39 seeks to ensure that in cases where a pregnant woman explicitly requests someone to help her to obtain abortion pills from the Internet or in another manner she will not be guilty of an offence. Again, we will press the amendment to a vote. As Senator Bacik mentioned earlier, we do not want to have cases such as the one in the North of our country recently where a woman who was helped by her mother to obtain abortion pills is now under investigation and could possibly be jailed. It is unbelievable that this is happening in our country. For that reason alone, amendment No. 39 deserves our full support.

On amendment No. 43, throughout the referendum debate we witnessed what can only be described as targeted harassment and protests outside maternity hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Let us call it what it was, shameless intimidation. These individuals were also outside Leinster House, but my main concern is for women and doctors. We have seen the tactics of the anti-abortion cabal in the US and other countries where they try to intimidate women to prevent them getting an abortion. They have tried to intimidate doctors to stop them carrying out abortions. They have tried to intimidate those in healthcare facilities. Needless to say, they will start to do that here once we start delivering these services.

Recently, at an education meeting about abortion services in my home city of Limerick, doctors were threatened and nearly had to cancel their meeting. I spoke about it on radio in Limerick the other day. I was surprised to hear that the radio station had contacted other politicians who refused to come on and talk about the topic. I excuse my colleague, Senator Byrne, because she told me she was tied up with a previous engagement. However, it is poor form that elected representatives are not prepared to speak out against this level of intimidation.

We cannot wait for this to be done through other legislation and doing it through this legislation would send a powerful message to those who plan to threaten the women who need these services and the doctors who provide them.

I wish the Minister well with the rest of the Bill. I congratulate our colleagues on all sides who have worked constructively on the legislation. Let us hope we can finish the Bill in a way that makes it as strong and progressive for women as we can.