The Dáil last week rejected an attempt to make Ireland’s abortion legislation even more permissive than it already is. The failed Bill went far beyond simply removing the three-day waiting period before an abortion, which is the big ask of pro-choice organisations. It also sought to decriminalise doctors acting outside the law and substantially widen the grounds for abortion in cases involving ‘fatal foetal abnormalities’.
The Bill, drafted by the Social Democrats, was defeated by 85 votes to 30, with Sinn Féin abstaining but some Government TDs supporting it.
Under the present law, an abortion can take place for any reason up to 12 weeks, which is when about 90pc of terminations take place, but a woman must wait three days before the abortion can proceed. The Bill aimed to remove this last protection for the unborn child in the first trimester of pregnancy.
Supporters of repealing the 8th amendment repeatedly argued that there is “no medical reason” for a reflection period but this misses the point entirely. No medical reason is required to have an abortion before 12 weeks gestation. The waiting period exists because abortion is a profound and irreversible decision involving the deliberate ending of unborn human life.
Mandatory waiting periods are not unusual in Europe. Fourteen European countries require them. For instance, the cooling-off period is seven days in Italy, six in Belgium, and three days in Germany, Portugal and Hungary.
There is also strong evidence that reflection periods reduce the number of abortions, and even if only some women reconsider during those three days, that surely matters.
Another significant proposed change in the Bill concerned the existing legal threshold relating to a ‘fatal foetal abnormality’, that is an abnormality that will kill a baby within a certain period after birth. Current law allows abortion where two doctors certify that the unborn child is likely to die before birth or within 28 days of birth. The Social Democrats wanted to replace this requirement with a broader standard and also allow abortion later in pregnancy in cases involving serious foetal conditions that may not be fatal.
This matters because the law has already been liberalised once since the referendum. The original draft legislation referred to conditions likely to lead to death “before birth or shortly after birth”. During the legislative process, “shortly after birth” was broadened to “within 28 days of birth”. The latest proposal would have gone further again.
During the debate, Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill acknowledged that Irish women travel to England for abortion for different reasons, not only because of foetal abnormalities. Britain permits abortion on much broader grounds, including in cases involving disability or serious handicap. This means that some Irish women travel after diagnoses such as Down syndrome or other non-fatal conditions that would not meet the Irish legal threshold.
Overall, the Bill was an attempt in certain ways to align Ireland with a broader British model.
It is notable that even Sinn Féin refused to support the Bill. The party has its own legislation aimed solely at abolishing the waiting period, but it objected to other aspects of the Social Democrats’ proposals. Sinn Féin argued the Bill went far beyond the recommendations of the abortion legislation review and raised concerns about decriminalising doctors. The Bill would also have removed criminal penalties for doctors who deliberately act outside the abortion law approved after the referendum.
We should not pretend, of course, that supporting the abolition of the three-day-waiting period only is in any way moderate.
For now, this latest attempt to further liberalise our abortion law has been decisively rejected, but pro-life supporters should not become complacent. The Minister herself indicated support for removing the waiting period, and future legislation focused narrowly on that single issue may attract broader political backing. The debate showed that pressure for a more liberal abortion regime in Ireland has not diminished.
