Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister for bringing forward the legislation. He said he would, he has done so and here we are. He gave very strong assurances when discussing legislation tabled by Members of the House. He said repeatedly he would bring in this legislation. He has been here twice this week and I say well done and congratulations and I thank him very much.

Senator Malcolm Byrne has robbed all of my lines. The Minister has shown a consistency of support for women's healthcare and a dedication to making sure that women have access to a continuum of healthcare. I have spent all of my adult life attempting to have a child. People then challenge me when I stand in a pro-choice position. They ask me how I could do so because I know what it is like. The fact is that access to lawful healthcare, regardless of what people need, is a fundamental right for men and women. It is important that those who need to access termination and abortion services have the unfettered right to do so.

My notes were substantially about protests and the location of protests. It is fundamental that we listen to those with whom we disagree. Of course we do. I have great regard for Senator Mullen. He comes from a place of absolute faith conviction. While he and I disagree on a lot, I believe he does come from a place of absolute faith conviction, and so we will joust in the House. The suggestion that to fetter the right to protest at medical centres is a silencing of voices, or a silencing of freedom of expression, the right to protest or constitutional rights, is plainly false.

People who have something to protest about can write to us. God knows, we get enough emails. They can contact our constituency offices. They can contact our Dáil and Seanad offices. They can protest outside the gates of Leinster House. We have the barriers up today and we are ready for whatever the nature of the protest is beyond those barriers. People can protest here all of the time and we welcome them. Quite often protest has that strong voice of bringing change. There are many protests that we go out to en masseto support and to hear the lived experiences of people and bring this into our debates. If people are protesting outside a medical centre and saying prayers outside a medical centre they have only one purpose and that is to intimidate those who wish to access the services.I travel past one medical service every Saturday and there is a protest outside of it, every Saturday. It is appalling for the women who need to go in there to get the services of that particular centre. I have gone to the National Maternity Hospital in Holles Street and needed to access the services there in the context of my own journey of fertility. I have seen the coffins and depictions of so-called aborted foetuses, and how horrific that is for women going in to access termination services but also for those going in grieving loss and perhaps about to come out with the remains of their pregnancy to bury it and face into a funeral. I have sat and spoken with women who have had both of those experiences and it is absolutely and utterly horrific. It shows a lack of any compassion and any empathy. Yes, a proportion of our people voted against repeal but we live in a democracy and their position does not give them a right to bully. It gives them a right to keep trying to raise it, as the repealers did for years. It gives them that right. However, it does not give them a right to challenge, silence, guilt and judge those who would try to attend. There is only one function, and the function is judgment. It is paternalistic and now well outdated. We are long since past the place where they know better than the woman who is choosing the service. I congratulate the Minister. I know they have all had a lot on their plate. I thank him for bringing this forward. The shame here is that it is needed at all. It should never have been needed at all but we have now recognised that it was, and it is. It is fine legislation and I look forward to supporting it all the way through Committee Stage.