Further hearings on abortion bill
A second day of hearings on the proposed abortion legislation will take place today.
A parliamentary committee is expected to consider whether terminations should be offered to suicidal women in Ireland.
If enacted, the Protection of Life during Pregnancy Bill 2013 which is being debated at the Oireachtas Health Committee , will legalise abortion if there is a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother, including the threat of suicide.
Indian dentist Savita Halappanavar died after she was denied an abortion as she miscarried in a Galway hospital.
Her death, in part, drove pressure on the Government to legislate for abortion.
The Bill, if passed, would legislate for the 1992 X case judgment from Ireland’s Supreme Court , which found abortion is legal if there is a real and substantial risk to the life of the mother, including the threat of suicide.
The case was taken by a 14-year-old rape victim who became pregnant and was refused permission to travel for an abortion.
The loosening of the rules is also intended to meet requirements from a European court decision that found a woman in remission from cancer should not have been forced to travel oversees for a termination.
