Government will engage ‘constructively’ on Social Democrat abortion reform
By Cillian Sherlock, Press Association
The Government will “engage constructively” with the Social Democrats over its proposed reforms of abortion legislation, the Taoiseach has said.
Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns is bringing a bill that would enact recommendations of a 2023 report into existing legislation, which came into effect after Ireland voted to liberalise its laws on terminations in a landmark referendum in 2018.
Cairns said the bill would provide clarity on terminations for medical reasons, including fatal foetal abnormalities, remove an existing three-day waiting period between GP consultations prior to a termination and end the “criminalisation of doctors”.
The provisions of the bill arise out of a senior barrister’s review of abortion laws, which recommended a series of operational and legislative changes to the system.
Marie O’Shea recommended the removal of a mandatory three-day waiting period between a woman’s initial medical consultation and her being given access to abortion treatment or medication.
Her review also recommended the threat of criminal sanction be removed for medics found to have acted outside the provisions of the abortion legislation.
During Leaders Questions on Tuesday, Cairns said the public had voted to “take abortion access out of the Constitution and into the hands of the legislators”.
She said this was the culmination of decades of campaigning by committed activists all across the country.
“The stories from women later on in pregnancy who were forced to travel abroad to have terminations for medical reasons were the stories that stuck in people’s minds and hearts the most.
“Women who, in the midst of grief and trauma, chose to speak publicly to share deeply personal experiences.
“They spoke about receiving devastating diagnoses, they spoke about being told they could not receive care in their country, they spoke about the loneliness of travelling, leaving behind their families, their support networks, their homes, at one of the most painful moments in their life.
“And they spoke about stigma and shame where there should have been compassion and care.”
Cairns said they told their stories to ensure that “what happened to them would not happen again”.
However, she contended that the O’Shea report found that the “law is not working as it should” and Ireland is continuing “to send women abroad at their most vulnerable moment”.
She told Taoiseach Micheál Martin: “Every year, approximately 240 women are still forced to travel to the UK to access abortion care.
“Many of those women are travelling because they received a devastating diagnosis, often after their 20-week scan.”
Martin said the Government is committed to ensuring that there is safe and equitable access to termination of pregnancy services.
He pointed out it was possible now for one of the two consultations required for termination in early pregnancy to take place remotely.
Martin said legislative proposals required “careful consideration” given that there “is a broad spectrum of sincerely-held opinion” in the area.
He said the existing legislation is “consistent” with what was communicated to the Irish people prior to the referendum.
“That said, there is a broad range of sincerely-held opinion on the issue of legislative changes to that Act.
“It is important that all voices are heard, that we have a respectful debate and discussion on this, that we listen to each other with a view to achieving maximum consensus possible before proceeding with change, and legislation will give an opportunity for that to happen in the House.
“And I’ve spoken to the minister in respect of this, and the minister will engage constructively with the legislation that you will be bringing into the House.”
