Sinn Féin currently has a bill before the Dáil aimed at removing the three days a woman must wait before obtaining an abortion. If you recall, this was a ‘sweetener’ offered to voters in the abortion referendum of 2018 to induce them to get rid of the Eighth Amendment. The Oireachtas Health Committee [1] considered the matter this week and had expert witnesses in before it, including the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP). The ICGP supports getting rid of the three-day wait. But here’s the rub: it did not consult its members before arriving at this position.
Dr Ciara McCarthy, the College’s Clinical Lead in Women’s Health, appeared before the committee to explain the why the ICGP, or more accurately its current leaders, want to get rid of the waiting period [1]: “The evidence demonstrates that mandatory waiting periods can delay or restrict access to abortion care, can increase emotional distress and can create logistical difficulties for both the woman and healthcare systems.”
But during questioning from politicians it became clear that the College had not consulted its members, nor had it heard from women who, during the three-day waiting period, subsequently continued their pregnancies.
The ICGP has more than 5,100 GP members, and says [2] that part of its function is “advocacy on behalf of the profession and patients”.
How does the College know what the profession thinks if its members have not been consulted on this issue?
Nine in ten doctors do not provide an abortion ‘service’. Many of these doctors are probably pro-choice, but you can be pro-choice and support the three-day wait. We don’t know to what extent this is true, because the ICGP never asked its members for their opinion.
According to an Amárach Research poll [3], 55.3% of the public expressed support for keeping the three-day wait. The percentage could be higher or lower among doctors. Again, we don’t know.
There is reason to believe the waiting period saves lives. Thousands of women who attended an initial abortion consultation did not return for the second appointment. There are various reasons why this can happen, including miscarriage, obtaining an abortion elsewhere and deciding to continue the pregnancy. Yet women had not been interviewed in preparation for the ICGP position, and its representatives were unaware of at least two cases of alleged coerced abortions in Ireland which were put to them by Aontú leader, Peadar Toibin.
That leaves two striking gaps in the ICGP consultation.
The background of those representing the College at the Oireachtas committee hearing is noteworthy.
Dr McCarthy has a long record of involvement in pro-choice advocacy. In 2018 she was among more than 80 Cork doctors who publicly called for a Yes vote to repeal the Eighth Amendment. Dr Diarmuid Quinlan, now Medical Director of the ICGP and another member of this week’s delegation, signed the same letter [4].
Following the 2018 referendum, Dr McCarthy [5] became a founding member of START (Southern Taskforce on Abortion and Reproductive Topics). A published professional profile describes START as having had “significant input” into developing Ireland’s model of abortion care and identifies McCarthy as an Early Medical Abortion Trainer.
The Oireachtas hearing therefore raises an especially important question about how the ICGP arrived at its position: when a professional organisation tells legislators that it speaks for a profession and its patients, whose voices have actually been heard?