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'The pain and suffering is etched in my memory': TD takes emotional stand during fatal foetal abnormalities debate

Fine Gael’s Kate O’Connell was speaking before the Dáil this evening.

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A DÁIL DEBATE on a bill to legislate for terminations in the case of fatal foetal abnormalities has heard an emotional appeal from Dublin TD Kate O’Connell.

Responding to the proposed legislation by Independents-4-Change TD Mick Wallace, O’Connell told the chamber how she dealt with the issue during her own pregnancy.

Appearing visibly moved, the Deputy said:

This is a topic that is very close to my heart. My husband and I were unfortunate to be told that our much wanted child had a profound defect when we went for our 20-week scan.
The pain and suffering of that time is deeply etched in my memory. And the fear of the unknown and the cruelty of fate weighed heavily on our shoulders.
Against the odds the pregnancy was delivered to term, and I was delivered of a child that had almost the entirety of his organs outside his body.

“He is now miraculously a fit and healthy five-year-old with a flair for social commentary,” she said.

That week when we awaited the result to tell us if he also had a genetic, and therefore fatal abnormality, was the hardest of our young lives.
Before that I had not needed to pay much attention to the Eighth Amendment. Nor had I been overly aware on the limitations it placed on the Irish people.
Call me ignorant, but it had never been on my radar until that point, having spent most of my adult life in the UK where a civilised and compassionate approach to women’s health is par for the course.

Pausing to take a drink of water, O’Connell then urged TDs to:

“Meet with the people who have lived the experience, and to listen to the medical experts, and not some self-appointed moral police who look down on the rest of us from their lofty perches.”

While she commended Deputy Wallace for bringing forward the Bill, she stated her view that it would be imprudent to go against the advice of the Attorney General Márie Whelan.

“It is incumbent on us to vote to vote down this legislation when we’re informed that it’s unconstitutional,” she said.

As legal adviser to the government, the Attorney General has made her opinion clear.
I understand that legal opinions may differ, but the Attorney General is who we turn to for legal guidance, and to ignore her professional opinion would be to do her a disservice.

She also called for legal clarity around the term fatal foetal abnormality to benefit doctors, and also stated that should a referendum be called on repealing the Eighth Amendment, she would travel the “length and breadth of the country” to campaign on it.

Speaking earlier in the debate, Minister for Health Simon Harris issued an apology to Amanda Mallet, a woman who took a case in 2011 to the UN’s Human Rights Commission after being told at 21-weeks pregnant that her child would die in the womb or shortly after birth.

Read: Simon Harris has apologised to Amanda Mellet in the Dáil

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110 Comments
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    Mute Daniel Morrissey
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    Apr 17th 2021, 12:20 AM

    Roll on the 26th change…. yawn…

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    Mute Anna Carr
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    Apr 17th 2021, 12:56 AM

    @Daniel Morrissey: lol. I know how you feel. How many bloomin people over 65 are in the country. They seem to go on forever hahaha

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    Mute Peter McGlynn
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    Apr 17th 2021, 1:12 AM

    @Anna Carr: I don’t know how many. How many people voted Fianna Fáil? In or around that amount.

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    Mute Ger
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    Apr 17th 2021, 3:06 AM

    @Anna Carr: it literally tells you in the article

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    Mute Paul Gorry
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    Apr 17th 2021, 3:16 AM

    @Ger: ah lighten up ger her comment was tongue in cheek jayus what are you not seeing there?

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    Mute Dave O'Keeffe
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    Apr 17th 2021, 5:13 AM

    @Daniel Morrissey: well yeah, can’t make them deliver it faster or make it ourselves so that’s what we have to do.

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    Mute Anto Curran
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    Apr 17th 2021, 8:00 AM

    @Peter McGlynn: obsessed with FF. Unless you’re playing an online game where you can try to fit FF into every comments section?

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    Mute Barbara Stewart
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    Apr 17th 2021, 11:55 AM

    @Anna Carr: Sorry for being 69 and delaying your vaccination….I could have said the same about all over 70s but I have a bit more respect!!!

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    Mute Tony Humphreys
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    Apr 17th 2021, 1:54 AM

    You lost me at the word ‘plan’. I always thought they there was only one plan – lockdown. Why do something when you can get away with nothing.

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    Mute Dave O'Keeffe
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    Apr 17th 2021, 5:14 AM

    @Tony Humphreys: well you thought wrong and then refused to think about it anymore

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    Mute Keith Richardson
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    Apr 17th 2021, 1:54 PM

    @Dave O’Keeffe: well there is no published plan on reopening. I’m sure there’s one on a desk somewhere. If people were treated like adults and told this then there would be increased confidence.

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    Mute Dave O'Keeffe
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    Apr 18th 2021, 5:32 AM

    @Keith Richardson: no, if there was a widely publicised plan with an unpredictable pandemic and unreliable delivery schedules any changes would undermine the confidence you claim it would bring.

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    Mute Tarraing Mo Liathróidí
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    Apr 17th 2021, 8:02 AM

    The fact we still likely won’t restart tourism and hospitality till June or July is just mind boggling, especially given the fact MM despite some who said it was lies when I pointed out that leaky Leo said the same thing, that he can’t say we won’t go into another lockdown after this one. And given the fact the hse management seem to have done nothing except allow the waiting list balloon and get themselves a pay rise, any extra surge from even a few covid cases over the winter months makes this likely since they now have a great excuse to cover up they barely cope any winter before covid hit. So this means a lot of small businesses and retail included as well may only have a small window to open and make some much needed money, meanwhile north will be full steam ahead open end of May.

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    Mute Siobhan Rosemary
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    Apr 17th 2021, 8:35 AM

    So the AstraZeneca isnt safe to use on under 60s but is safe for under 60s who received 1st dose?? Think il pass on the second thanks. Back of the que I go lol

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    Mute Dave O'Keeffe
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    Apr 18th 2021, 5:34 AM

    @Siobhan Rosemary: that silly. 1 in a million died of a blood clot that nobody knew to be looking for. That’s different now. 12 in a million died of covid here and doctors were definitely looking for it.

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    Mute K Flan
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    Apr 17th 2021, 11:26 AM

    2 more weeks to flatten the curve

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    Mute Dave O'Keeffe
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    Apr 18th 2021, 5:35 AM

    @K Flan: the curve is flattened. Sadly the base rate is still over 300 cases per day.

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    Mute Sean Callan
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    Apr 17th 2021, 7:26 AM

    Boring boring boring all this lot has to offer

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