Voices at the hearings

‘It is about saving women’s lives’

Master of the Rotunda Hospital Dr Sam Coulter Smyth arrives for the public hearings on the Heads of the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill 2013 at Leinster House yesterday. Photograph: Gareth Chaney/Collins
Master of the Rotunda Hospital Dr Sam Coulter Smyth arrives for the public hearings on the Heads of the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill 2013 at Leinster House yesterday. Photograph: Gareth Chaney/Collins

The Bill is not about the risk of suicide in pregnancy. It is about saving women's lives, regardless of whether that risk to life is physical or mental – Master of the National Maternity Hospital Dr Rhona Mahony
Our psychiatric colleagues tell us that there is currently no available evidence to show that termination of pregnancy is a treatment for suicidal ideation or intent – Master of t he Rotunda Hospital Dr Sam Coulter Smyth

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Marie O’Halloran

Marie O’Halloran

Marie O’Halloran is Parliamentary Correspondent of The Irish Times