Health Minister Simon Harris has said the State will fund abortions in public hospitals if the Eighth amendment is repealed and a law introduced that treats abortion as a health service available on request. “I believe if the people make a decision about a health service, it should be available in the public service,” he said.

He also indicated that he also expects Catholic and other religious hospitals to routinely provide abortions should they become a legally available “health service” under any new law. He said he did not believe that religious ethos would see some hospitals opting out, and pointed to the experience of the operation of the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act is that publicly funded facilities operate under the law of the land.