Politicians tell review ‘unduly restrictive’ abortion laws should be relaxed

Politicians have argued for widespread changes to Ireland’s abortion laws as part of an ongoing review, with some proposing a less restrictive regime and others pushing for stricter rules.

Some 7,000 submissions were made during a public consultation process as part of the ongoing review into the State’s existing abortion laws.

The Termination of Pregnancy Act provides for a review of the legislation three years after its implementation, and Coalition sources have confirmed the review is now in its final phase and is expected to be completed within the coming weeks.

A number of TDs and Senators confirmed they called for widespread changes to the laws as part of the consultation process, with many demanding changes to the 12-week limit, the three-day waiting period to access an abortion and the rules around terminations in the case of fatal foetal abnormalities.

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The Act, which came into effect on January 1st, 2019, provides abortion without restriction up to 12 weeks’ gestation subject to a three-day waiting period.

Terminations are also permitted after 12 weeks if there is a risk to the life or health of the mother, or in cases where it is judged the foetus will die before, or within, 28 days of birth.

Multiple politicians have also called for the continued use of telemedicine for appointments, which were introduced during Covid-19.

Others have called for a more restrictive regime, with Aontú proposing the 12-week limit be tightened to 10 weeks, while it said the three-day wait should be made longer. The party wants women to wait five days to get access to termination services and medication.

In its submission, Aontú said it believed the three-day wait period “has served women and children well”.

“Aontú has met with women who regret their abortions, and indeed these women would be happy to meet with or speak to the review team,” it said. “Given the enormity of the decision to go ahead with an abortion, we believe that the three-day wait period should be extended to five days to allow women the necessary time to make their decision.”

Explaining the rationale behind reducing the period to which a woman can access an abortion to 10 weeks, the party said: “We believe such a move is necessary to ensure that abortions are not carried out on the grounds of disability or gender and also because of the development of the unborn baby.”

Labour Party leader Ivana Bacik, in her party’s submission, called for a repeal of the three-day waiting period saying it “disproportionately affects abortion access for those who live outside of urban areas, in places where there are limited or no abortion providers, and who are financially or socially vulnerable”. She also called for an extension of the 12-week limit so that women could access abortions for a longer period.

The Labour Party also called for an amendment to the part of the law that defines what constitutes a condition likely to lead to the death of a foetus.

“This provision is unduly restrictive and imposes an arbitrary time period upon doctors’ capacity to diagnose fatal foetal conditions,” it said. “The effect of the provision has been that, as research published by the National Women’s Council and TFMR [Terminations for Medical Reasons Ireland] has shown, women and couples have had to continue to travel outside the country, often in the most difficult of personal circumstances after a heartbreaking medical diagnosis, to end their pregnancies.”

Green Party TD Neasa Hourigan called for the same measures, as well as the decriminalisation of abortion in all circumstances. She also said telemedicine should be made a permanent provision.

Senator Alice Mary Higgins called for abortion healthcare to be made available “on an equitable basis in every maternity unit and hospital in Ireland”. Independent TD Thomas Pringle called for access to abortions for those without a PPS number and for women from Northern Ireland.

Other politicians who argued for a more relaxed system include Labour Senator Rebecca Moynihan and Social Democrats TD Holly Cairns. Ms Cairns said the framework for those seeking abortions after week 12 was being interpreted “within a highly conservative framework”. She said that in Ireland, just 97 of a total of 6,577 abortions provided in 2020 were on the grounds of fatal foetal anomaly.

She also said the decision to end a pregnancy was “unnecessarily complicated and restricted by an arbitrary deadline by which the foetus must be expected to die, by an adversarial medical system, and a process that excludes the wishes or circumstances of the parents in this situation”.

Nearly 20 TDs and Senators said they did not submit views as part of the consultation. A large number of Fianna Fáil politicians who appeared in a photo campaigning for a No vote before the 2018 referendum did not answer queries about whether they made a submission.