Members of the committee on the Eighth amendment have adamantly denied accusations that their work is biased toward a predetermined, pro-abortion outcome. Social Democrats TD Catherine Murphy said the claim of bias was “utter nonsense” and the narrative that peddled it was “a lie”. People Before Profit TD Brid Smith said there had been a deliberate attempt to create a fake perception that the chair was biased. Sinn Féin’s Jonathan O’Brien denied there were only three anti-abortion members on the committee, adding that he considered himself to be neither “pro-choice or pro-life.” He said the conduct of Senator Rónán Mullen and Independent TD Mattie McGrath had been “disgraceful”. In response, Senator Mullen said he had tried to avoid criticism of the chair but her management of the committee had “failed to procure objectivity”. Deputy McGrath said the committee was a “stitch-up” for which the members were responsible. The committee’s work was unbalanced and there had been an “appallingly skewed line of speakers” before the committee, which had “already voted for abortion”, he claimed. The committee hearings had been “a charade from the start”, the Tipperary TD said.