On the seven year anniversary of Repeal, we still have so far to go with abortion care

This week marks seven years since we repealed the 8th, but we still have so far to go.

It is understood that 240 women still travel from Ireland for vital abortion care in other countries.

The team at The Journal explained that the reason behind the number of women travelling abroad for a termination varies.

However, one of the main reasons is that many women do not realise they’re pregnant until after the legal deadline has passed. In Ireland, abortion is permitted during the first twelve weeks of a pregnancy.

12 weeks of pregnancy means 84 days since the first day of your last period.

Ahead of Ireland’s upcoming examination by CEDAW, the National Women’s Council called for the full implementation of the legislative and operational recommendations of the Abortion Review (O’Shea Report).

These include:

• the urgent removal of the 3-day mandatory waiting period,
• the decriminalisation of abortion, and
• the need to address the current 28-day viability clause which is resulting in many families with diagnoses of fatal foetal anomalies make devastating journeys abroad.

Doireann Crosson, Women’s Health Coordinator with NWC said:

“In 2018, people overwhelmingly voted for women to be able to access the care they need in Ireland. Seven years on from Repeal, it is unacceptable that hundreds of women are left with no choice but to travel abroad.

"We are disappointed that the current Programme for Government lacks the ambition and leadership needed to address the serious gaps that remain.

"NWC is calling for the urgent and full implementation of the recommendations of the O’Shea report, including the mandatory 3 day waiting period and the decriminalisation of abortion. We also want to see a review of the 12-week limit.”

She continued, “NWC welcomed that from 2025 all 19 maternity hospitals in the Republic are now providing abortion services. GP coverage has also improved with at least one GP in every county providing abortion care. However, gaps in training and data collection remain.

"Addressing these will be crucial to further improve services for women. We also remain concerned about access to abortion care in Northern Ireland, where significant gaps in regional provision continue.”