Rónán Mullen (Independent) | Oireachtas source

We are approaching the season of peace and goodwill. "Pax" is the Latin word for peace. All I want for Christmas is a packet of Paxlovid.

I know that Senators Warfield and Keogan are good people and people of goodwill, and I believe much more unites than divides them. However, this is what I would like to see. Criticisms may perhaps be made regarding what is sometimes now put across in our schools. We can all unite about making our schools cold houses for bullying of any kind and promote the self-esteem and identity of every person while allowing people to have their deeply felt values and convictions, as they do about sexuality, family and all of that, all of which are really important. We need to stop shaming people for their points of view and get into discussion to see what can unite us.

I commend Senator O'Loughlin on reminding us that today is Animal Welfare Awareness Day. One thing I have observed in recent years, which may be a strange twist in our society, is that we are perhaps better at loving other people's animals than we are at loving other people's children.I am an animal lover. Maybe that is to do with the vulnerability of animals but sometimes children are vulnerable and there is no person more vulnerable than the unborn child.

That is why I want to draw the attention of colleagues to the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) (Foetal Pain Relief) Bill 2021, which will be discussed on Second Stage in the Dáil today. Growing amounts of scientific literature are revealing the fact that unborn babies have developed sufficiently by 20 weeks' gestation to experience symptoms of pain, with other studies indicating that this capacity to feel pain may manifest even earlier than 20 weeks. In cases of late-term abortion, including dilation and evacuation abortions where an unborn baby is dismembered, it is heart-wrenching to think that an unborn child may suffer such undue pain. Irrespective of whether my colleagues fully subscribe to the findings of the latest scientific research, a precautionary provision of pain relief medicine is surely a minor and just way to ensure that unborn babies do not suffer undue pain in late-term abortions. We must not try to obfuscate or talk about deferring to the doctors; we are here to legislate for the common good. We must not have a conspiratorial eye and dig our heels in on the basis of whether we label ourselves pro-life or pro-choice. I am asking for a reset on this issue to see if we can unite about something basic and decent. I am asking if we can also consider the human animal on this world animal welfare day. That is not a lot to ask.