The Citizens’ Assembly has heard that the pain of continuing an unviable pregnancy can be immense for some women.

Before the assembly concluded for the evening, it heard a debate on the question of the ethical status of a foetus.

Two philosophers debated whether a woman should have the right to choose an abortion in the case of a fatal foetal abnormality.

Professor Bobbie Farsides a pro-choice philosopher from the Brighton and Sussex Medical school, and Dr Helen Watt a pro-life researcher from the Anscombe Bioethics centre, expressed opposing views on the issue.

Dr Watt said: “This is not just a challengeing choice, it’s a devastating choice for women, and there is research suggesting that women who have their babies do better.

“If anyone is interested, I have copies of the paper which cites the evidence.”

Professor Farsides said: “We might read those papers and actually agree on that, I don’t know, but the important thing is that for some women the pain of continuing, what to them is an unviable pregnancy, is immense.”

Earlier, an expert in foetal maternal medicine at the National Maternity Hospital said as many 30% of pregnancies are terminated because of a pre-natal Down Syndrome diagnosis.

Dr Peter McParland also said that he believes more women would choose abortions in cases of foetal anomalies if such an option was available.

He said many pregnant women are choosing to pay for a test to determine whether their child has down syndrome, saying it has had a major impact in other European countries.