HSE Library Blog

Public Hearings on the Heads of Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013:

THE OIREACHTAS COMMITTEE on Health and Children are currently in session for three days of public hearings on the government’s proposed new legislation on abortion, following its publication of the heads of the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013.  The debate in relation to the Bill has crystallised around one issue, the threat to the mother’s life where there is a risk of suicide.  Leading psychiatrists at the Public Hearings have been voicing opposing views to the inclusion of the suicide clause to the Bill.  There was a deep divide in the stance of the 13 psychiatrists that reported to the committee yesterday.  Some acknowledged that although suicide is a very small risk it is a “real” risk, others see their role as merely assessing a woman’s eligibility for termination, while others are concerned about the “normalising suicidality” in legislation, a further group expressed that termination can never be a treatment for suicidality while others are concerned that psychiatrists might become “gatekeepers to abortion”.  Legal Hearings on the Heads of Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013 are being held today: