Drs Andrew O’Regan and Kirsten Fuller performed brilliantly as witnesses before the Oireachtas Health Committee on Wednesday, where they spoke in favour of retaining the three-day wait prior to an abortion.
Despite being repeatedly barracked and attacked by pro-abortion Oireachtas members, they maintained their composure and remained sure-footed throughout an hour and a quarter of intense questioning on the evidence and arguments they presented.
The personalised attacks were among the nastiest and most insidious directed at witnesses before an Oireachtas committee in recent memory.
Several Oireachtas members intervened during the proceedings to call out the appalling conduct of some of their colleagues and the disrespectful and out-of-order manner in which the two invited witnesses had been treated.
Because the evidence isn’t there to support their case, some pro-abortion Oireachtas members resorted to personalised attacks and smears in place of robust argument.
The one positive to emerge from what happened was that it was plainly visible for everyone watching to see exactly what was going on and the tactics being deployed. For weeks, the mask of one particular committee member had been slipping. On Wednesday, it hit the floor.
The fact that the Committee gave the two doctors just six days’ notice of their invitation to appear was another discourtesy shown to them. Meanwhile, the ICGP and HSE were given several weeks’ notice before their appearances.
The Chairperson, on behalf of the Committee, owes Dr O’Regan and Dr Fuller an apology for what happened.
Watch short clip here.