Lorraine Clifford-Lee (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to make a brief comment, which will be my only comment today because I am also concerned about the limited time we have.

The sentiments expressed by colleagues across the House are very right and fitting. It is worth noting that protests outside hospitals not only intimidate the women, their partners and other support, who are accessing termination services, they intimidate everybody going into that facility.

Pregnancy is a very complicated time in a woman's life. A lot of things can go right and a lot can go wrong. It creates different dynamics within the home, workplace and community. It is a trying, roller-coaster ride for people. Protests outside a health facility, by people who have no business being there, are very disempowering for the woman. It puts the woman in a very vulnerable position. I would not like to see anybody protesting outside any facility, particularly for the people who are accessing termination services. Everybody should be able to access their healthcare with dignity and privacy and to not have their business spread among their community. Everybody should be able to access services in their own community with a bit of privacy, with nobody reporting back as to who has been seen going in and out of a facility. That is the chill effect. It impacts everybody who is accessing health services.

I commend this Bill and the campaigners who have worked very hard on it. I commend everybody who is working positively towards ending discrimination against women and allowing people in this country to have autonomy and privacy across all aspects of their reproductive healthcare.