I move:
That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to permit medical treatment leading to termination of pregnancy in situations where the foetus has a fatal abnormality such that it is incompatible with life outside of the womb.
This Bill allows for terminations in cases of fatal foetal abnormalities. Although the Government had a chance to include such cases in its Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013, it failed to do so by bowing to pressure from right-wing anti-abortion advocates. Sadly, this has left many people in unnecessarily stressful situations where they know that their pregnancies are unviable. This means that women are either forced to continue with those pregnancies in the full knowledge that the foetuses will not survive or must travel to England to seek terminations. The experiences that these women and their partners must undergo are onerous and add to the distress of people who are already significantly traumatised.
For far too long, the State has abdicated its responsibility for women's health and well-being. The Government seems to accept that women's health care needs should be taken care of by Britain regardless of the added stresses that this entails for women in need of care or the cruelty it inflicts on people in distress. I applaud the continued efforts of the campaign group Termination for Medical Reasons, including its recent submission to the UN Human Rights Committee. It is time that it be listened to and that its demands for humane treatment by the State be met.
The Bill would provide increased protection for women's reproductive rights and would finally legislate for terminations in cases that the overwhelming majority of people in Ireland recognise need to be catered for in law.
