Dáil debates removal of 3-day abortion wait, as Taoiseach and Tánaiste back Sinn Féin bill

LAST UPDATE | 18 hrs ago

TAOISEACH MICHEÁL MARTIN has told the Dáil he will be voting in favour of Sinn Féin’s bill to remove the three-day waiting period to access abortion care.

A spokesperson for Tánaiste Simon Harris confirmed that he would also be supporting the bill, which is being debated in the Dáil tonight ahead of a vote tomorrow.

Speaking this afternoon, the Taoiseach said he intends to vote for it to go through to committee stage, where he expects there will be a need for “consequential amendments”.

Government TDs will be given a free vote on the proposed legislation.

Dáil debate

Speaking during the debate this evening, Sinn Féin leader Mary Lou McDonald said the mandatory waiting period is “just wrong”.

She highlighted the extra difficulty it causes for women who have difficulty accessing a GP and services in their own county.

“Many are forced to travel for hours for the initial appointment, only to be sent away and told to return again after three days,” McDonald said

“I cannot tell you the level of distress, of suffering, of emotional anguish for women across the country that this has caused … none of this is fair, none of this is compassionate.”

Sinn Féin TD Donna McGettigan said removing the mandatory wait does not mean that a woman cannot take more time if she wishes.

The Clare TD said someone in her constituency “was abused for years by a close family member”.

“When she discovered she was pregnant, she was devastated and decided on a termination. She had her mind made up. There was no question, but she found the three-day delay very difficult to deal with.”

‘Striking a balance’

Health Minister Jennifer Carroll MacNeill was unable to attend the debate, as she is at an EU-level meeting in Luxembourg. 

In her place, Minister of State Emer Higgins acknowledged the concerns of those who support the three-day wait, and said any change to policy would have to strike a balance between “protective measures and compassionate and timely access to healthcare”.

She said the removal of the wait period would have implications for the current model of care.

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“Any move towards more flexible or same-day pathway would necessitate changes to clinic scheduling, workforce deployment, patient flow arrangements, and administrative processes,” Higgins said.

“Consideration would also have need to be given to the potential impact on service demand and capacity, particularly if there is an increase in requests for treatment on the day of assessment.”

Higgins said that mandatory waiting periods represent a departure from the norm in most areas of healthcare, where informed consent is based on a patient’s capacity and understanding, rather than a prescribed waiting period.

“This debate provides us with the opportunity to reflect on whether that is necessary or indeed whether that is appropriate to retain such a requirement here in Ireland”, she said.

Higgins added that many studies suggest that the number of women changing their mind during the mandatory wait “is quite small”.

Previous bill

The Sinn Féin bill comes after a similar bill from the Social Democrats was defeated in the Dáil last month. 

Sinn Féin did not support the Social Democrats’ bill, which included a further provision around widening access to abortions in the cases of fatal foetal abnormalities.

Current laws only allow terminations where a condition is likely to lead to the death of the foetus before birth or within 28 days after birth.

Speaking to reporters this morning at Leinster House, Sinn Féin’s health spokesperson, David Cullinane, said his party did not support the Social Democrats’ bill because it had concerns around the proposed definition relating to fatal foetal abnormalities and provisions around decriminalisation for doctors.

Cullinane said his party has long held a view that a three-day wait was a barrier to women accessing abortion services.

“I’ve listened very carefully to the voices of women who’ve told their stories of being timed out of accessing services because you couldn’t get a GP. There are women in coercive relationships, for example, [who] find it very difficult to get a second appointment, and for all of those reasons, some women were not able to access abortion services,” the Waterford TD said. 

He stressed, however, that women should still be entitled to a follow-up appointment if they want one.

“The clear distinction that’s been made here is that the mandatory element of that three-day wait should be brought to an end, because we’re talking here about women who have come at this at their own time, they’ve made up their minds, they know what they want,” he said, adding that some women find the three-day wait “patronising”.

During the debate of the Social Democrats’ bill last month, health minister MacNeill said she personally does not oppose removing the three-day wait.

“I personally do not see any difficulty with the requirement. That is my personal position,” she said at the time. 

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