2026-01-29

I move: That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 to abolish the 3 day waiting period for abortion on request. This Bill relates to the three-day waiting clause in the abortion legislation. I was approached by young women last year who raised the need for reform on this specific aspect of the legislation. I gave them a commitment that I would put forward a Bill on the matter. Termination of pregnancy is a health procedure that is extremely time sensitive. What was introduced is a mandatory 72-hour delay before a person can have a second appointment to access abortion. This clause does not apply to any other medical procedure that we have in law. One can buy Viagra over the counter – I would love to have a debate about that in the House. One can have a rhinoplasty procedure performed and there is no mandatory wait. The regret rate for rhinoplasty is 40%. We do not have any of these rules for other procedures. This affects women and people who can become pregnant. There is an idea that women are rash, emotional, cannot make decisions for themselves and have not fully thought things through and that by putting in this place this barrier they will suddenly decide not to go ahead with a termination. This does not recognise the amount of thought somebody has generally put into a decision before they even pick up a phone to make an appointment. It does not recognise the impact it is having on GP services. This was, essentially, a political decision at the time. I was active around the process leading to the legislation and referendum. It is something I campaigned on. This provision was introduced at the last minute. The legislation was very dependent on getting the vote of Simon Coveney, who, I understand, was Tánaiste at the time, and the votes of some others in the ranks of Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael. In March 2018, Mr. Coveney was quoted as saying that people apparently came up to him in shops and stated that there had to be barriers before the legislation went through. He said: Only after the protocol is certified ... I believe a pause period is appropriate at this juncture and expect Cabinet to consider between 48-72 hours, to ensure a fully considered decision. What happened was very much political. The country voted strongly on the matter. The people who went out to vote in numbers did not vote to put this barrier in place. I want to talk about some of the problems it is causing. It is forcing women to go much later, not by three days but often a lot more. In a survey, Too Many Barriers, carried out by Dr. Lorraine Grimes, the majority of people reported that it was very negative for them to have a mandatory delay. They spoke about having to get a person to give them a lift to a second appointment and having to get time off work. They spoke about the stress and anxiety of being forced to wait longer and of having this hanging over them. There are many other responses I do not have time to speak about. Often, people are waiting a week for an appointment with a doctor. Some one in four people waited more than three days for a second appointment. This can add ten days to the timeline. I want to make something clear. Periods are not often talked about in the Dáil, but the date of pregnancy is measured by a doctor under our law from the first day of a last period. It is not measured from the date of conception. Therefore, people have even less time. People may think 12 weeks is a long time, but up to nine weeks are measured. It is a very short time, and we are potentially adding another week and forcing people to travel, including victims of domestic violence and so on. The WHO, the Irish Family Planning Association, the O'Shea report and UN have all stated that the mandatory waiting periods should not have been introduced. They are not necessary. During the pandemic, we had telemedicine. There were no delays. Some 98% of people who went to a first appointment went ahead with termination at the second. The idea that they had to be forced to wait is highly insulting. I want to mention the political aspect of this. The people who oppose the likes of this are from rural areas. It is actually rural women who suffer the most, particularly if they do not have access to GP services in their counties. Some are forced to travel to other counties. The right, the religious right and the far right are pushing back on rights we won in the 2000s and the 2010s. I ask that the Government consider this as being an absolutely necessary reform that we have not had in the seven years since we voted on the matter and to not be convinced by these individuals. The majority of people did not want barriers put in the way of women.

I ask the Deputy to conclude.

The most oppressed people, including the poorest and young people, will suffer the most as a result of this clause.

Is the Bill opposed?

Not on First Stage.

The Bill is not being opposed.

Not on First Stage.

This is First Stage.

It is not being opposed.

Since this is a Private Members' Bill, Second Stage must, under Standing Orders, be taken in Private Members' time.

I move: "That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time."