Taoiseach and Tánaiste to vote for Sinn Féin Bill to remove abortion wait

Taoiseach Micheál Martin and Tánaiste Simon Harris are to vote for a Sinn Féin Bill to remove the three-day mandatory wait for an abortion.

A free vote will be in place for all Government TDs, a government spokesperson confirmed ahead of the vote on Wednesday.

Sinn Féin announced at the weekend that its health spokesperson David Cullinane would bring forward legislation in the Dáil this week to remove a three-day waiting period between GP consultations prior to a termination.

The Bill’s introduction comes after Social Democrats leader Holly Cairns questioned Sinn Féin over its abstention in a vote for her reproductive rights Bill last month and a claim from Mr Cullinane that it had “no democratic legitimacy”.

Ahead of the Dáil session on Tuesday, Mr Martin said it was important to have a “respectful” debate.

“I intend to vote for this to go through to committee stage. On committee stage, there will perhaps be a need for consequential amendments, which the minister has flagged with Deputy Cullinane.

“That does not undermine – in fact it enhances – the intent of the amendment.”

Speaking in the Dáil during the debate, Mr Cullinane said his Bill would not mean that abortions would take place at the first consultation a woman attends.

He said it is possible for the woman to take the amount of time they feel is necessary.

“When a woman is certain that this is what she wants, it allows her to make that decision for herself in her own time, about her own pregnancy without a mandatory delay,” he said.

Sinn Féin TD Donna McGettigan said the legislation was about “trusting women” and the three-day wait “delays access to healthcare at what is already a difficult moment in their lives”.

“The state should not be in the business of imposing barriers based on the outdated notion that women cannot be trusted to make a decision about their own healthcare.”

The Social Democrats’ Pádraig Rice said that they would be “strongly” supporting the removal of the three-day wait.

“It is the only form of healthcare with a state-imposed delay. It is a paternalistic restriction, and we have a history of having paternalistic attitudes in our healthcare service, and it needs to be undone.”

Labour TD Marie Sherlock said that they were disappointed with Sinn Féin for “cherry picking” one aspect from the O’Shea report but said it seemed to be the issue that had gathered the most support.

Marie O’Shea recommended the removal of a mandatory three-day waiting period between a woman’s initial medical consultation and 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.

Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín, who left the Sinn Féin party in 2018 after differing with the party over his views on abortion, said the number of abortions had “surged in just seven years”.

He claimed that the liberalisation of abortion laws in Ireland had partly affected its declining birth rate, and said the waiting period is “working” as 10,000 women did not return for their follow-up appointment after the three-day wait.

Minister of State Emer Higgins said clarification would be needed on the implications of removing the three-day wait, but said those issues were not “insurmountable”.

“As I’ve said, clarification would be required regarding whether assessment and treatment could occur during the same visit, whether same-day treatment would be expected or simply permitted, and whether any reflection period would remain available at the request of the service user,” she said.

“The existing service model is based on separate stages of assessment, of certification, and of treatment, and any move towards more flexible or same-day pathway would necessitate changes to clinic scheduling, workforce deployment, patient flow arrangements, and administrative processes.

“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, as I said, these aren’t insurmountable.”

The Pro Life Campaign’s Eilís Mulroy said: “Many people who voted Yes in the 2018 referendum did so following assurances from people like Micheál Martin and Simon Harris that the three-day wait would be an integral part of any new law.

“Their decision today to renege on that assurance – particularly so soon after the referendum – represents a massive breach of trust with voters.”