The Irish College of General Practitioners received sustained criticism yesterday for not consulting their own members before advocating the abolition of the 3-day abortion waiting period.

90pc of GPs currently do not participate in the administration of chemical abortions.

Representatives of the College addressed a Joint Oireachtas Committee that is considering a Sinn Fein bill to remove the mandatory 3-day ‘cooling off’ period.

Colm Burke, TD FG, Padraig O’Sullivan, TD FF, and Peadar Toibin, TD Aontu, voiced their surprise that the body purporting to speak for GPs had not consulted GPs.

The representatives of the College also received criticism for not having gathered evidence from women who availed of the 3-day wait to change their mind about aborting their unborn child.

According to HSE figures, over a five-year period, 10,534 women did not return to proceed with an abortion after the three-day period had elapsed.

Senator Sarah O’Reilly spoke of her own experience of trauma, confusion and panic when she had a crisis pregnancy as a 16 year old . She described the 3-day wait as a reflective period that “supports” women, and its abolition would create a “barrier” for women.