It is "cruel" to require a woman to take a pregnancy to full term when it is clear that the baby will die at or shortly after birth, Senator David Norris has said.
He was responding to a letter in The Irish Times on Monday from a woman whose baby will be "incompatible with life", but who cannot legally end the pregnancy in Ireland.
Mr Norris said the letter from Ms Deirdre de Barra was an example of the most astonishing courage and integrity.
"This woman in the interests of others was prepared to reveal intimate details of her private life and I salute her for doing that," he said.
At a No vote rally yesterday, he said making her complete the pregnancy was "cruel and lacking in compassion and as an adult society these are issues that we must address, however painful and complex they are."
Ms Anne Marlborough of Abortion Reform said in a poll it organised last year, 46 per cent of respondents said abortion should be allowed in such circumstances.