People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith has condemned what she called "the cruelty" experienced by a couple who have been refused a termination following "a diagnosis at 22 weeks of a fatal foetal anomaly".
Deputy Smith told the Dáil that she had spoken to the couple from her Dublin South-Central constituency who had just been given the news.
"They have a two-and-a-half-year-old child, and they were refused - at a multidisciplinary team meeting this morning - a termination on the grounds of fatal foetal anomaly," the deputy said, "because it is impossible, in the words of (barrister) Marie O'Shea, who spoke to the Health Committee in October, to say how long - if that baby survived birth - that it will live".
The Termination of Pregnancy Act permits - following a mandatory three-day waiting period - abortion up to 12 weeks, and in some very specific cases further into a pregnancy.
These include a threat to the life of the mother, dealt with in Sections 9 and 10 of the act.
Ms Smith referenced Section 11, which deals with fatal foetal conditions and includes strict conditions. It "will not allow for doctors to recommend a termination in very tragic circumstances," she said.
"A baby with one enlarged kidney, covered in cysts, with no amniotic fluid around its body, and the mother suffering in pain.
"She'd be forced to travel to Liverpool, and she was told to, 'bring your two-and-a-half-year-old with you if you can't get care'," Ms Smith said.
"I don't believe the cruelty that's going on in our hospitals at the moment," she added, "and I'm really pleading with this Government to do something about it."
Deputy Smith noted that the Cabinet has "a very comprehensive report" from Ms O'Shea, who made a number of recommendations in her review of abortion legislation which was published last April.
These include a re-examination of the conditions under which an abortion is permitted in cases of fatal foetal abnormality.
Ms O'Shea also called for the removal of the three day waiting period, for doctors to be decriminalised and greater clarity around conscientious objection.
The Cabinet referred the report to the Joint Committee on Health.
Ms Smith told Minister for Enterprise Simon Coveney that will be "coming back to you next week".
"You can legislate on the grounds of, at least fatal foetal anomaly, and decriminalising abortion, so it doesn't act as a chill factor in decisions that should be made for the care of women, not for the constitutionality of it," she urged.
Minister Coveney, responded: "I'm very slow to comment on an individual case that is as stressful and potentially as tragic as the one that you've just outlined."
The People Before Profit TD interjected that he could comment on the legislation.
"We will have an opportunity in the New Year to finalise decisions in relation to the report," Mr Coveney replied, "and this house will have plenty of time to debate that early in the New year".
