Sharon Keogan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

Amendment No. 2 provides for the opt-out for general practitioners who do not wish their GP surgeries to automatically become a safe access zone by notifying the Minister for Health. We know that most GPs do not want to provide abortion and the majority are not offering abortions at the moment by exercising their right to conscientious objection. Therefore, I find the automatic inclusion in the Bill of all GPs, including those in clinics run by ardently pro-life doctors as safe access zones, to be bizarre and unfair. If we take for example a pro-life GP whose practice is in his or her own home or next door to his or her own home, under the current legislation, they would be in breach of the law if they were to put a pro-life sticker on their car or in their window. So if the supporters of this Bill were truly pro-choice, they would respect the right of doctors to opt out.