Chief Medical Officer: Risk to life of the mother could always be concern

The Chief Medical Officer says you cannot say that suicide would never be a real and substantial risk to the life of a mother. And Tony Holohan says that is one of the reasons that the risk of suicide is in the proposed abortion laws.
He’s been quizzed this morning by politicians on day one of three of hearings on the laws.
Some staunchly pro-life Fine Gael and Independent TDs and Senators have questioned the point of the hearings saying the last time there were hearings in January the views were widely ignored in the drafting of the bill.
Doctor Hologram says the suicide provision had to go into the laws because it could not be left out.
“We simply cannot say that the circumstance of a real and substantial risk to a women’s life could never occur as a consequences of suicidal idea, and that’s that reason that provision is within Heads (of the Bill)” he said.
“I did say that I don’t believe that it would be a prevalent Stanton or a very common situation – but I could not say that it would never occur” he added.