McGuinness: Legislation required to support X Case outcome
Retired Supreme Court judge Mrs Justice Catherine McGuinness has said the X Case is the law and must be legislated for.
Appearing today before the Oireachtas Health Committee, Mrs Justice McGuinness said the Supreme Court had spoken and the people did not change the outcome in two subsequent referendums.
"We do not know for what reason people voted as they did (but) the X Case judgement stands and is the law in this country. It is an outline and legislation is ne3eded for more detail - this is what was re-emphasised in the A, B and C case," she said.
Barrister and former Doctor Simon Mills presented the committee with his own draft bill which he said was a first stab at building the law "around the middle ground".
The Fine Gael TD Terence Flanagan asked whether legal change was actually needed considering medical professionals had never withheld care from pregnant women for legal reasons.
Dr Mills said there was no doubt that a change was needed.
"I heard a doctor say 'I don’t want to go to jail'. It's hard to imagine any more restriction on a doctor than the fear of losing his or her liberty," he said. "I have also heard a number of doctors say 'I need clarity on this'."
Meanwhile, Trinity Professor William Binchy told the hearing the people wanted the law to support current medical practice and not the X Case.
He said the Government was wrong to legislate for the X Case when no such requirement was put forward in the European A-B-C case.
Professor Binchy also questioned Health Minister James Reilly's involvement with the expert group.
