Dáil rejects Bill that would have removed mandatory three-day waiting period for abortion

The fight for reproductive rights in Ireland continues

The proposed amendment was defeated by just two votes.

73 voted against restoring the Bill while 71 voted in favour. Minister for Health Jennifer Carroll MacNeill and Minister for Foreign Affairs Helen McEntee were among TDs who voted in favour of the legislation being restored to the order paper, along with Minister for Public Expenditure Jack Chambers.

Those who voted against included Independent Ireland TDs and Aontú.

This Bill would have amended the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 and would have abolished the three-day waiting period for abortion requests.

It also would have allowed for abortion where there is a risk to the life of or serious harm to the health of the pregnant woman and decriminalised the provision of abortion, allowed for abortion on grounds of fatal foetal abnormality that is likely to lead to the death of the foetus either before or within a year of birth and provided for abortion on request before foetal viability.

The Bill was introduced in the last Dáil term by then People Before Profit TD Bríd Smith, who retired at the last election. It then passed the second stage.

Last night saw her party colleague, Paul Murphy, unsuccessfully fight to have the legislation restored to the order paper.

This Bill being rejected comes after the European Parliament adopted the 'My Voice, My Choice' proposal, committing to safe and accessible abortion for all women in the EU just this week. 

This movement involved over 300 organisations and was backed by 1.2 million citizens who all demanded safe and accessible abortion care across Europe.

At a plenary session in Strasbourg on Wednesday, 358 MEPs voted in favour of supporting the citizens’ initiative, while 202 were against, and 79 abstained.

This non-binding resolution calls on the European Commission to establish a voluntary financial mechanism which would make it possible to provide safe abortions to all women who, under their national legislation, may not have access to this in their own countries.

While Europe may be moving towards reducing barriers to abortion access and extending women's bodily autonomy, Ireland still has a long way to go.