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voted for and endorsed by the people in 2018 and the too many barriers which remain. One of those barriers is the three-day wait. Sinn Féin supports removing the three-day wait. We never supported the three-day wait in the first place. We have tabled legislation … remove the three-day wait and have always been clear that this waiting period does not provide care or support or make the service safer. Rather, it simply makes access harder. We do, however, have significant concerns about the proposed new definition of a condition likely to lead

day. People cannot get a mole removed or cosmetic surgery or be sterilised without a wait to reflect. We also know that three-day wait period is actually working for families. We know that 10,000 mothers attend the first abortion meeting and they did not attend … second one. There are thousands of children alive in their homes today as a result of that three-day wait period. When the abortion review was being discussed in the health committee in the previous Dáil, I asked the chair of that review a direct and important question

day wait for an early-pregnancy abortion. The review of the operation of the Act was published three years ago. It highlighted serious imbalances in access to care, significant geographic variation in access to services, the underdevelopment of regional services and barriers such as the three-day wait … counties. The review recommended a geospatial analysis of services to identify the biggest gaps. Sinn Féin supports the abolition of the mandatory three-day wait for an early-pregnancy abortion. We introduced legislation that would remove the mandatory three-day wait for access to an abortion during early

termination of pregnancy. This is a straightforward and targeted Bill. It does just one thing. It proposes to remove the mandatory three-day wait for access to an abortion during early pregnancy. It does not require an abortion to happen on the day of a first consultation … women and the review of the principal Act was that some women were being pushed beyond the 12-week threshold by the three-day wait, which denied them their choice to end a pregnancy. This is not a complicated proposal. It is a focused, practical and compassionate change

women's abortion experiences. I want to ask Deputy Cairns this question directly today. Before bringing forward this Bill to abolish the three-day wait and widen the grounds for late-term abortions, did she accept or ignore the request to meet women who deeply regretted their abortions … from her party answer them. It is well documented from replies to parliamentary questions that thousands of women have availed of the three-day wait and have gone on to keep their babies. With that evidence before us, I cannot fathom how any party would seek to abolish

less stigmatising access to abortion for women who need it for what it is, that is, healthcare. Sinn Féin supports removing the three-day wait period and replacing it with a right-to-reflection period. I welcome the opportunity to debate the shortcomings that exist in abortion services … large parts of the country women are not in a position to access abortion services. That clearly needs to be addressed. The three-day wait period, which Sinn Féin did not ever support, creates an unnecessary obstacle. It puts women in difficult situations, in particular women from minority

there and say that. I was not surprised because I saw Sinn Fein rushing through a Bill here last Thursday on a three-day wait. I had a Bill on the three-day wait. It is great that Sinn Féin has one eight years after repeal. I knew

that finally addresses this issue. Here is the issue: it comes back to choice. I respect anybody's choice to take a three-day waiting period, but I do not respect the imposition of that three-day waiting period on me or anybody else who chooses to move

fact, it was on the basis of information released to me through numerous parliamentary questions that we can confirm that the three-day waiting period prior to having an abortion has played a critical and life-saving role in the lives of thousands. In fact, over the five … year period since the law was introduced, 10,426 women did not return for a second appointment after the three-day waiting period. This was between 17% and 18% of women. I have to be clear. From where I stand, any attempt to eliminate the three-day reflection

foetal anomalies in order that women in this terrible situation are not forced to travel and abolishing the patronising and medically useless three-day wait. The Bill mostly does all of that. There are details that could be ironed out on Committee Stage. We would prefer to abolish … three-day wait entirely rather than making it optional. Women are perfectly capable of taking as much time as they need to make their own decisions without needing for that to be legislated for. We also favour deleting section 23 in order that abortion is fully decriminalised

have had nothing. There is a key question for the Minister today. The Minister has said she is going to fix the three-day wait. Why is the Minister not bringing forward her own legislation into the Dáil? While all very welcome, frankly it is not good enough … three days. While we acknowledge and respect that the Social Democrats have brought forward a particular mechanism with regard to the three-day wait, we in the Labour Party would be actually in favour of abolishing it altogether. It is much more straightforward. The World Health Organization

adverse media scrutiny has likely led to women being denied care. Criminalisation is not theoretical; it is actively harming patients. The mandatory three-day waiting period has a physical and psychological impact on women. It is particularly onerous for people in marginalised groups and those living in rural … noting that the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women has called on the Irish Government to abolish this mandatory three-day waiting period. It is also worth saying that middle-ground voters in the referendum were particularly concerned about women who needed terminations for medical

women. This is about trusting women. It is about giving women their autonomy. The Act, as it stands, imposes an unnecessary mandatory three-day waiting period for abortion care. The legislative review, the O'Shea report, recommends the removal of section 23 from the legislation. I spoke … legal experts and, most importantly, the women and patients themselves. Abortion care is about time-sensitive healthcare. The imposition of a mandatory three-day wait is in direct opposition to that

foetal conditions, often after the 20-week scan, are still forced to make that long, lonely journey to the UK. The mandatory three-day waiting period continues to create unnecessary distress and delay despite having absolutely no medical basis. The continued criminalisation of abortion creates fear among clinicians … narrow and too rigid. Doctors are being placed in an impossible position, and women are still travelling as a result. The mandatory three-day waiting period is another example of a barrier that exists not because of medicine but because of politics. Once again, it is women

long that evidence can be ignored, because none of these issues are new. The problems with the 28-day rule, the mandatory waiting period and the criminalisation of doctors were all identified years ago but nothing was done. There is a tendency, when abortion is discussed, for there … approach that Sinn Féin is taking. I am stunned too. Putting forward a proposal for the bare minimum - removing the three-day wait - Deputy Cullinane said that this strikes the right balance. I have to ask: for who? It is safe to say it is not the women

acted since. The Bill before the House is designed to fix three of those problems, the first being that the mandatory three-day waiting period has no basis in medical evidence. The WHO is unambiguous on this. It recommends against mandatory waiting periods, finding no evidence of benefit

point out the difficulties in that regard. The first and least problematic of the five issues concerns the amendments relating to the three-day waiting period. The arguments for and against the removal of that provision have been well aired in the public domain. I personally

basic limitations to the legislation as it stands. We have spoken about the recommendations and the stance of the WHO on the three-day wait and the 28-day piece, but also the criminal sanction that is faced by practitioners and the fear that creates within that occupation

Government has and which it has refused to act on. On that basis, we are happy to support the Bill. The three-day waiting period is an insult and is exacerbating the difficulties in accessing termination that women in the country are having to endure. The criminalisation

Minister, that a positive vote on this Bill tonight will see the Government engage seriously with the question of removing the three-day wait, bringing this matter back to the Dáil rapidly in order that this paternalistic treatment of women in our law can finally be ended

then we must also ask why HSE figures show that 10,000 women did not return after the initial consultation of the three-day waiting period between 2019 to 2024. That is 10,000 women; 10,000 moments when somebody stepped back; 10,000 moments when doubt entered

point. The point is that we support people in the decisions they make. A person has a three-day wait to make a decision to do something. If it is a financial issue or if they are in a relationship they do not want to be in, give

operating as intended and were causing real distress to women and clinicians. Third, the O'Shea report questioned whether the mandatory three-day waiting period was evidence based and recommended that it be optional. Figures have been cited here today regarding women who did not proceed with

been reached, there has already been reflection, and there has already been discussion, fear, emotion and heartbreak. This is why the mandatory three-day waiting period is wrong. For many women in my constituency, this was a huge issue that they spoke to me about on the doorsteps

achieve its stated objectives and ultimately may prove counterproductive. As the Minister pointed out, the amendment as drafted to remove the mandatory three-day waiting period has the potential to cause problems for existing medical law, but perhaps that is an issue that could be explored further